Every Precious Thing
by mabelreid
Summary: The NYPD calls in profilers from the FBI's elite BAU when Shane Casey kidnaps Lucy Messer. This takes place directly after the season finale CSI NY Criminal minds crossover
1. Homecoming

**_Disclaimer: See my profile_**

**_a/n this is a multichapter sequel to "For Better or Worse." This chapter takes place a few days before the events of "For Better or Worse, with the next chapter picking up the day after. You don't have to read "For Better or Worse," to understand this story, although, I'd like it if you would read it! Please enjoy. _**

**_Homecoming_**

_She carefully tucked in the light yellow sheets and stood back to see the affect on the rest of the room. The windows were sparkling clean thanks to all of her scrubbing. The hardwood floors gleamed. The shelves along the walls awaited their new guests. The yellow paint matched the sheets and the cushion on the rocking chair. A plain, unstained dresser occupied another corner of the room._

She looked around, imagining what the room would look like now that her daughter was coming home. She'd told them all that her baby girl hadn't gone for good, but they refused to listen. _He_ was the only one that believed her. _He'd_ gone away and found the girl, rescued her from the one that had stolen her away.

She went to the dresser and picked out the outfit her little girl would wear on her first day back home. It had been little Sarah's favorite dress, yellow with a white lace collar.

_Where are the shoes? _She looked around frantically for the shoes that matched the outfit.

Rage had her clawing through the clothes, throwing them out on to the floor as she searched for the right pair of shoes. She had to find them or… Her hand touched something hard in the bottom drawer. _There_, she pulled out the white shoe with little yellow daisies adorning the strap across the top. They still gleamed as though they'd never been worn. She caressed them as if they were her little girl. The anger in her chest abated just a little. She had to learn to keep her temper under control now that Sarah was coming back.

She took the outfit, and the shoes, to the crib and placed them there where she could put them on Sarah as soon as her sweet baby girl returned home. She looked around again. She'd made a mess again. It had to be in pristine order for her baby, nothing less would do.

_There_, she thought ten minutes later. Now only one thing remained to be done. She hurried out of the room, down a hallway with walls painted a light lavender color, to a stairway that went upstairs to a walk-in attic.

At the end of the dusty, musty, room under the steeply pitched roof, she found a trunk. The small, oak container boasted the name Sarah, carved into its surface. She took a small key from the front pocket of her light blue, frilly apron and turned it in the lock. The inside of the small trunk held more clothes belonging to Sarah, a baby rattle, her Christening blanket and one last special item.

She carefully unpacked the trunk until she reached the wrapped package at the bottom. She pushed aside the wrappings and removed the box. It gleamed as though just polished. The smell of the cedar wood brought tears to her eyes. She ran a loving hand over the surface of the rosewood inlay. The hand carved rose on the top reminded her of the flowers her beloved David brought her the day she'd given birth. She choked back a sob and opened the box. The small ballerina dressed in pure white tutu, leotard began to spin, and music tinkled softly into the musty air as sunlight made dust motes dance around her. She listened, as tears fell onto her apron and hand. Then, she shook her head and stood up. All the grief and loss would soon be over.

She took the music box down to Sarah's room and put in on top of the dresser where it had always belonged. Sarah would be so happy to hear her favorite song again.

**_ csinycsinycsinycsinycsiny_**

"Shut up!" He shouted back at the crying baby. "We'll be there soon. Then you'll be _her_ problem!"

He turned on the radio, unable to listen to the little brat cry anymore. He'd come close to killing the 'little ball of sunshine' more than once, but that wouldn't do for his plans. Hard rock music poured out of the radio, drowning out the wails of the child. He tapped his fingers to the beat of the music, careful to keep his eyes on the road and his speed down. It wouldn't do for some nosy cop to pull them over.

"The game isn't finished yet." He shouted over the music. "I'm going to show your daddy the true meaning of pain baby girl. When I'm done with him, he'll be begging me to kill him."

He laughed as the small, blond girl with her mother's eyes cried in the back seat. He turned up the radio even more as his exit finally came up on the right. He left the freeway and turned right onto a state road.

Half an hour later, the little brat had gone to sleep. He pulled into the driveway in front of the large, two story home.

"Home sweet home," He said getting out of the car.

The woman hurried out of her house. "Where is she?"

"In the backseat. Hurry up, will you? I have things to do back in New York."

"I can't believe you found her." She said as she opened the door to the back of the car. "Oh Shane… It really is her. Thank you so much." She picked up the sleeping child and cuddled her to her chest.

"Trust me when I say, giving her to you makes me happier than you can possibly imagine."

"How can I ever thank you?"

He smiled, "Just remember what I told you. If anyone comes around looking for Lucy Messer, hide the girl. Don't let her been seen. If you know what's good for you."

"You think the people that took her away will come back." Fear clouded her blue eyes.

"Yes… They'll send cops and maybe FBI. It won't be for awhile though, I have a plan to distract them from trying to take her back."

"Are you sure," Tears joined the fear in her eyes as she hugged the sleeping child close to her heart.

"Don't worry about it. I promise I'll take care of it." Shane assured her as he returned to the car. "I can't tell you how happy it makes me to that you have Sarah back for good."


	2. Heartbreak

**_Disclaimer: see my profile_**

**_a/n thank you all for your reviews and support. The next chapter picks up the morning after "For Better or Worse"_**

**_Heartbreak _**

Danny took his steaming cup of coffee to the living room window. He'd promised Lindsey three weeks ago that he'd climb out onto the fire escape and clean the windows. Their deal had been that she would clean the inside and the bathroom for two weeks as payment. The windows were still dirty. It didn't seem to matter if they sparkled in the sunlight. Nothing sparkled for him without Lucy.

"Hey Danny…" Lindsey carried a cup of coffee and stood to the other side of him, with Lucy's toy box between them.

"Hey Montana…" He said softly.

"You slept?"

"A little," He sighed. "Every time I close my eyes I see him standin' there with Lucy in his arms."

Lindsey sidestepped to him and laid a hand on his arm. "I keep dreaming that I wake up and all of this is a bad dream. When I opened my eyes I thought I could hear her calling out for you like she always does in the morning."

The warmth of her hand on his arm couldn't combat the anger and the coldness in his heart. If only he could open, his eyes from this waking nightmare and find his family intact.

"I guess I betta go get dressed." He turned, and her hand fell away from his arm. Her eyes glistened with tears as his eyes passed over her face, but he couldn't feel it through the cold of losing his baby girl and the heat of the rage left over from last night.

"You don't have to go in Danny." Her dark eyes begged him to just stay there with her.

He stopped, but he couldn't respond to those eyes with a comforting word. "You're the one that said I can't keep wallowin' around the apartment."

"I didn't use the word wallowing."

"So now you're gonna argue about words." Danny shot back.

"Danny!"

"I can't get into this right now. I hafta get into work. Mac's expectin' me back."

He saw the misery in her eyes. He should put his arms around her and comfort her. He couldn't seem to make his arms lift from his sides and embrace her. The block in his throat that kept him from screaming in agony had clamped back down in the night.

"I thought we agreed to talk to each other last night."

"I was there Montana. I know what we agreed. Now's not the time for all this." He moved his hands around in time with his speech. "I've been sittin' on my ass for over a week because of this damn shoulder." He rubbed at the healing wound. "I need to get out there and find Lucy. Why can't you understand that?"

"I do understand!" She shouted. "You think that because I hold it together that I don't care? You think I don't hurt like you do?"

He attempted to walk around her, to escape her fury that was large for such a small woman. "Oh no you don't Messer," she grabbed his unhurt arm. "You don't get to walk away. I'm not going to let you push me and everyone else away like last time."

He stopped in his tracks feeling the blood under his skin beginning to boil. "How long are you going to hold Rueben over my head? He was a kid. I was responsible for him."

"Yes you were," she agreed and his heart thumped sickly in his chest. "You and I are responsible for Lucy. Bad things happen to good people, baby. You should know that working for the Crime Lab."

The rage he had felt the night before when he'd come out of his self-imposed exile lashed out at Lindsey. "Don't lecture me Lindsey! I don't want to hear it." He pulled out her grasp, yanking so hard he nearly threw her to the floor. "I'm outta here."

He slammed his coffee cup down on kitchen counter, grabbed his jacket and stomped out of the apartment. His heart still jumped in his chest as regret surged in him as soon as he shut the door behind him. He turned around almost immediately and reached out a hand to the door. Why had he just lashed out at her so hard? Why couldn't he just accept her solace? Last night had been wonderful. Why had he woken up and felt so bad again?

He let his fingers slip off the doorknob. He had to get into work and find his little girl. He'd bring her home to her mother if it were the last thing he ever did.

**_csinycsinycsinycsiny_**

Mac stood in front of the glass wall that faced the hallway in front of his office. He stared at the evidence he had ordered out of the locker. Now it resided on his walls, an uncomfortable reminder that his Goddaughter was out there somewhere in the clutches of one of the most evil men he had ever met.

He focused on the dirt they'd found in Lucy's room after Danny had been shot. It didn't mean anything to him. It was dirt you'd find anywhere along the beaches of Long Island and Manhattan Island. Other than the dirt and some drops of seawater, they didn't have anything to tell them where he might have gone.

He stepped to the side, clasping his hands behind his back. The tip line set up after the initial Amber Alert, hadn't netted them one good lead. It was as if Shane Casey had dropped off the face of the earth. How was he getting around? Where was he getting his money? He hadn't used Danny's debit card in the last ten days. Did he steal a car or more than one? He could be anywhere in the US or the world by now. He still had Danny's badge even though they'd flagged it in the law enforcement employees' database.

He sighed and rubbed at the bridge of his nose. They needed help to find Lucy. He went to his desk and picked up the phone at the same time Danny knocked and stuck in his head.

"Hey Mac… You got a second?"

"Yes… What is it Danny?"

Danny came in and sat down on the small couch just inside the door. "I wanna know where we are with Casey."

"You look like hell Danny. Are you sure you're up to work?"

"I'm fine Mac. Don't change the subject. I can handle bein' here!"

Mac watched his younger counterpart rub at both of his eyes. He had a few days growth of beard and red rimmed eyes. Danny winced a bit as he moved his left arm.

"Have you seen a doctor lately?"

"Yes… I had an appointment yesterday. He said my shoulder's coming along as expected. He said it would be fine for me to come back to work at anytime."

"He told you to stay out of the field." Mac added, seeing the truth in Danny's eyes.

"Yes, but I can't just sit in the lab Mac."

"That's exactly what you're going to do Danny. The Commissioner's letting Stella and I with Adam look into Lucy's disappearance, but doesn't want you anywhere near it."

Danny jumped to his feet as Mac expected. "Mac you can't stop me from lookin' for my little girl."

"Yes I can Detective Messer. I had to beg just to keep IA out of this. You and Lindsey are off this until we find him. Is that understood?"

He watched his young friend struggle not to give into the rage in his eyes. He sat back and took the explosion when it came as Danny lost that struggle.

"I'm not gonna be kept out of this Mac, even if it costs me my badge."

"Don't shout at me Detective. You will follow orders or you'll be out on your ear!"

"You can't stop me Mac. She's my little girl." His face screwed up as though he tried to keep the tears back.

"I can stop you and I will. I need you to be objective. If you can't to that, I will fire you."

Danny's throat worked and his fisted hands shook. Mac stared him down until he simply turned and slammed out of the office.

**_csinycsinycsiny_**

Mac's breath whooshed out of his throat. If this were his little girl, wouldn't he do the same? Wouldn't he leave every other concern behind until he had brought her home? Was it right for him to bar Lindsey and Danny from the investigation? There were damn good reasons why a family member can't doctor their family, why they can't investigate a crime against them. Lost objectivity can get you killed. He knew that better than anyone did because he had lost his objectivity years ago. If not for that, she would still be…

He shook his head and circled his desk to stare at the evidence covering his walls. If he could just pull out some clue from all the clutter and unimportant information, then maybe they could get somewhere. He almost wanted a bizarre clue left behind by Casey so he could focus on something other than Danny, Lindsey and Lucy.

"Hey Mac!"

He jumped a little not having heard Stella come into the office, "Hey Stella."

"I just ran into Danny. He's not happy."

"I can't worry about that now Stella. I told him he was relegated to lab duty and he's not happy. He's not fit for the field, and I can't have him nosing around Lucy's case."

"Mac, he's hurting. He needs an outlet for all the anger and his guilt."

"Guilt can paralyze you when you most need to act." Mac said, feeling his heart beat just a little faster.

He saw the question in Stella's eyes but ignored it. All of them were very tired and exhaustion could make you do things and reveal things you didn't want known.

"I need all of my team at their best. That includes you. When was the last time you got any sleep?"

She gave him her patented 'you've got to be kidding me, right,' look and it lifted the corners of his mouth even as she spoke.

"I'll go to sleep when you do. You've been here for forty-eight hours straight." She pointed out to him in her best second in command voice.

"I can't stop thinking that we're missing something that's right in front of our eyes." He admitted

"We need fresh eyes… Maybe having Danny here can help. He might think of something we missed."

"No… We need more than Danny and Lindsey coming in here with their compromised view of the facts." He reminded her.

"Don't you think you're being a little hard on them?" She asked calmly.

"I'd like to play the accommodating friend and Godfather." He said going back behind his desk. "I can't do that Stella. I have to be the bad guy and the boss."

"I know that… Just try to remember that this is their baby girl, Mac. They need our support." The fire in her eyes lifted his heart. She would do anything to bring Lucy back.

"They've never had anything but my support." He picked up his phone. "Right now, we need something more than the local FBI. He changed the subject again. "They've hit a dead end. I'm calling in a favor from Quantico… right now!"


	3. Division of Attention

**_Disclaimer: see my profile_**

**_A/n hello all... The BAU makes it's appearance in this chapter. Many thanks to all my loyal readers. Please enjoy!_**

**_Division of Attention_**

Rossi tapped on Hotch's office door, entering when invited in by the Unit Chief. "What's up?" Hotch asked wearing his usual dark suit and glowering facial expression.

"I just got a call from an old friend whose head of the New York City Crime lab." Rossi said as he went to stand near the long narrow windows.

"You mean Mac Taylor." Hotch said.

"Yes… You've worked with him before," Rossi inquired.

"No, but his reputation's made it up to Quantico. He's an ex-marine."

"Semper Fi," Rossi interrupted with a smile.

"Of course. He's been a cop and a CSI for over twenty years. He's the last of the cops hired under Giuliani. He has a reputation as a hard nose scientist who doesn't jump to conclusions without the facts. His closure rate of cases is one of highest in the country."

"You know your CSIs," Rossi smirked.

"Let me guess," Hotch said with just the hint of a smile. "You're in here because Mac Taylor's looking for Shane Casey."

"Why do I bother?" Rossi jerked his shoulders. "That's why they pay you the big bucks."

"I got the request for help about twenty minutes before you walked in here. You've been following the news." Hotch asked.

"Yes… Shane Casey has escaped custody three times and killed six people. He kidnapped a little girl, the daughter of Danny and Lindsey Messer, two of Mac's CSIs."

"That was ten days ago. They have been trying to get a line on him since then, but nothing. The police Commissioner called us in."

"That's why Mac just called me. Apparently his boss didn't tell him that they'd called us."

"I get the feeling that there's some bad blood between the Chief of Detectives and Mac Taylor." Hotch said as he stood up from his desk with the file in hand. "We could be walking into some infighting."

"That's what I wanted to talk to you about." Rossi began as JJ breezed in looking very concerned.

"I just got a call from Detective Halstead in Bozeman Montana. There are three little girls missing. The pattern's very disturbing."

Hotch pinched the bridge of his nose. "Get everyone in the conference room now."

* * *

Garcia followed Rossi, JJ and Hotch into the conference where Emily, Morgan and Reid were sitting. Morgan was teasing Reid about his new hair cut while Emily smirked at both of them. "…bet we can find you all kinds of female admirers now kid." Morgan was saying.

"Shut up Morgan!" Reid slapped away Morgan's fingers in his hair.

"Quiet everyone!" Hotch took his place and JJ began to talk.

"This is Kylie Sweeny…" She brought a picture of a small, blond haired girl with dark brown eyes and a tooth missing from her smile. "She was went missing from a park two months in Bozeman Montana. She is the third to go missing in the last six months. The first two victims Carilynne Prescott, and Hannah Telford also went missing from parks in the middle of the day. She put up two more photographs of small girls with blond hair and dark eyes. "So far, the pattern is two months between kidnappings. The locals are concerned another child may go missing any day now."

"The police haven't found any bodies or any evidence at the crime scenes. They interviewed, did knock on doors of business around the parks, but now one saw anything out of the ordinary." JJ continued as she put up more pictures of green hilly parks with normal looking picnic tables and playgrounds.

"The ages range is interesting," Reid said. "Kylie was two years old, the first victim Carilynne was nearly three, and the second victim, Hannah, around a year and a half."

"So the un-sub is a preferential offender," Emily proposed.

"He has a flexible age range." Rossi observed.

"The un-sub blends in." Emily observed. "What about park personnel like groundskeepers?"

"I'm on that!" Garcia said from behind her laptop. "If anything pops I'll let you know."

"Have you been able to get anything from the security cameras in the surrounding businesses?" Hotch asked their brightly dressed tech.

She regarded him from behind sapphire blue glasses frames. "No… All the angles are blocked by hills of grass or buildings like the bathrooms and pavilions. The footage we got of the playgrounds show the girls playing but I couldn't see anyone that looked out of place or watching the kids."

"Keep at it!" Hotch ordered. "Then I want you to turn over all you've done so far to Kevin Lynch. I'm taking you and Reid with me to New York."

"What's going on?" Morgan asked looking curiously up at his boss.

"Rossi and I both received requests from the head of the crime lab in New York City and the Police Commissioner. I trust you've all been following the news about convicted serial killer Shane Casey and the kidnapping of Lucy Messer."

JJ put up a photograph of a little girl with blond hair and brown eyes. She wore a cute little pink outfit with a cloth hat perched on her head. A man held her in an orange sweatshirt that was playing at frowning in sadness for the camera.

The team surveyed the photograph with silent eyes.

"Shane Casey killed two people involved with the conviction of his brother Ian Casey in 2003. He didn't believe that his brother killed a bartender he'd robbed. He felt that his brother, who committed suicide after his conviction, wasn't guilty because the case hinged on the eyewitness account of one witness. He nearly killed his brother's lawyer and had also targeted another CSI that was the ME at the time of the crime." Reid said into that silence.

Everyone grinned at each other as Reid finally took a breath and stopped talking. "Nice recap kid." Morgan said.

"Why did you get the call?" Emily asked Rossi who appeared to be deep in thought over the case in Bozeman.

"He's a friend of Detective Mac Taylor, which is why he's going with you, JJ and Morgan to Bozeman. There's some political stuff in the NYPD and they don't need an excuse to take the case away from the crime lab." Hotch said.

The local FBI isn't getting anywhere, which is why Quantico has been called in. Now Shane Casey is clever and dangerous. He never kills the same way twice, at least not yet. He leaves obscure clues having to do with mythology, currency and numerology. That's why I need you Reid. If he resurfaces, you're the best mind we have to figure out the clues. He leaves them as stalling tactics. Let's make sure he loses that advantage."

"Yes sir…" Reid answered soberly, but the light of challenge lit up his eyes.

"I don't have to remind you that this is one of our own." He said to Reid and Garcia. "We get Lucy Messer back alive."

He stared down Reid who'd looked like he was about to open his mouth with some depressing statistic. "I said alive." Hotch repeated.

Reid and Garcia looked at each other then the boss. "Yes sir."

"Rossi, you and the team take the jet. The rest of us will drive to New York."

"Don't let Reid drive." Morgan warned Hotch as they all stood up from the table.

"Why not?" Hotch asked before Reid could speak. "I don't understand where this idea came from that he can't drive."

Reid grinned at Morgan who looked like he wanted to argue, but didn't dare. "Fine… Take your life in your hands if you want."

Emily smacked Morgan upside the head. "Shut up you. We have a case to get to."

"Geez… What did I say?" He growled.

"You know!" She shot back, "Leave Reid alone for a change and concentrate on your job."

"Hotch…" JJ said into the laughter that followed. "Why don't I see what I can do about getting you on a commuter train instead? If I'm lucky I'll be able to get you a work area so you can talk on the trip."

"Thanks… Let me know as soon as you can."

JJ hurried out of the room. The rest followed, their laughter dampening into concern as tension filled the room again. It was the first time in a long time their attention had been divided.

* * *

Rossi went back to his office and shut the door. He picked up his phone and dialed a number. "Mac?"

"_Yes…"_

"It's Dave."

"_When will you be coming?" Mac said._

"Not me… My unit chief SSA Aaron Hotchner, SSA Dr. Spencer Reid and our best Technical Analyst Penelope Garcia will be there in a few hours."

"_I was hoping to have you here as well." _

"I can't Mac; we have another urgent case in Montana. In addition, you should know that the Commissioner called in the team without notifying you. I don't want to add to the tension or give the defense attorney an excuse to use against you when you find Shane Casey. They could argue that you brought in a friend in the FBI."

"_I can't say that I'm surprised. I'm not that popular with the higher-ups. I was just trying to bring in the best Dave." _

"Well thanks for the compliment. Don't worry, there's no one better when it comes to profiling then Aaron Hotchner and Spencer Reid. Dr. Reid has a mind like you've never seen. It you get anymore nutty clues, he's the one to figure it out for you, fast."

"_Thanks Dave… I owe you one." _

Rossi went to his window and looked out into the cloudy day. "Trust me, I'll think of something good."

Mac laughed. _"I'm sure you will. I can't lose her Dave. She's my God Daughter and I love her. I can't watch Danny and Lindsey go through the hell of losing her for good. They've been through enough as it is."_ Mac said bluntly.

"Don't worry Mac. They'll be there soon. I'm going to look over the case on the trip to Bozeman. I'll call you if I think of anything."

"_I'd appreciate that. Thanks again Dave." _

"_Hey… You'd do the same for me right." _

"_Yeah… Once a Marine, always a Marine. We take care of your own. Take care." _

Rossi shut his phone and grabbed his go bag. The weather outside looked like they were in for another rainstorm. He wondered where the little girls were that day, including Lucy Messer. He shook his head. He had to focus on the un-sub for right now. It wouldn't help to speculate if they were cold, hungry or in pain. It only made the job harder.


	4. Comfort and Speculation

**_Disclaimer: see my profile_**

**_Comfort and Speculation_**

Lindsey stacked coffee cups in the cupboard, not hearing the porcelain clink together as she worked. The only thing she could hear was the rage in Danny's voice. It had cut her to the core to be shut out of his suffering again. She thought they had learned from their mistakes, but still he'd pushed her away when she needed him.

Her throat began to sting and her eyes to fill with tears as she wiped off the kitchen counter. She looked down at the cloth in her hand. Why? What good did it do for her to be here, keeping up the apartment, when she should be out there looking for her little girl? She slammed her hand down on the counter then screamed in pain. _Yep, that was smart Lindsey, hit the counter top and break your hand. _She shook her hand hard, trying to work out the pain in her palm. She leaned against the counter with her uninjured hand and began to cry in earnest. Her shoulders shook and she wanted Danny there to hold her and tell her that Lucy would come home.

Her phone beeped in the middle of her sobs. She fumbled it out of her pocket and looked at the caller ID. "Mom…" She croaked out, barely able to form the word in her mouth, let alone get it past her tongue.

"Oh my poor baby… Something told me to pick up the phone and call you. I'm so glad I did." Sarah Monroe said.

"I don't know how much more I can take." Lindsey said, her breath hitching in and out between every word."

"Honey… I want you to breathe for a minute. Can you do that for me?"

Lindsey tried to slow her breathing and stop the sobs that wracked her body. "I'm sorry mom," She said apologetically after a few sniffling moments.

"Why are you apologizing to me? My God, you're in hell. If you weren't out of your mind, I'd be concerned."

Lindsey took her phone out to the living room and sat down in Danny's favorite chair so she could see Lucy's colorful toy box. "Danny won't talk to me Mom. I thought I'd finally reached him last night. I gave him the picture I told you about when we talked yesterday. He finally stopped staring at her crib and slept. Then he got up to go to work today, and it was as if we hadn't talked at all. He keeps pushing me away and I don't know what to do about it." Tears leaked down her cheeks cooling them with salty wetness.

"I don't think you should do anything." Sarah replied calmly.

"But mom -"

"Danny's suffering, maybe even a little more than you. He feels like he let you down and Lucy. He's the type of man that takes pride in looking after the ones he loves. When he can't do that, even through no fault of his own, he pushes others away. It's not logical, but it's who he is."

"I know that Mom." Lindsey said, anger coloring her tone. "He's done this before and he swore he'd never do it to me again. He promised that no matter what he'd always talk to me. Why won't he try?"

"What have you been doing Lindsey?" Her mother suddenly asked.

"I don't understand." Lindsey wiped at her eyes with a Kleenex from the box she'd brought into the living room

"What have you been doing?" Sarah repeated. "If I know you, and I do, you've been doing your best to keep it all together for you both. You don't have to be so strong all the time Lindsey."

"If I don't keep things together." Lindsey said over the ache in her heart from her mother's words, "It'll all fall apart."

"So, it falls apart," Sarah, observed lightly. "Do you want Lucy to come home to parents that let the pressure of her kidnapping pull them apart?"

"No mom… I just don't know what to do."

"Are you working today?" Her mother asked.

Lindsey blinked at her mother's apparent change of subject. "No Mac made me take the day off."

"Smart man," Sarah laughed, "I'm sure he thought the two of you moping in the lab would drive everyone to distraction."

"I don't mope mother. I just want to find Lucy." She shredded what was left of her Kleenex into little pieces that fell like snow from her hand as she opened it over the coffee table.

"I know… I just mean that Mac knows how much Lucy means to you. He is her Godfather after all. I'm sure he thinks that the two of you there for everyone to see, would make the others feel like they're failing you."

"They're not failing us mom."

"Maybe Danny feels that way about you and Lucy."

Lindsey finally released her death grip on the couch's arm. "I don't mean to make him feel that way."

"Of course you don't, so when you see him, don't be strong. Make him see that you need him as much as he needs you."

"I don't know if that'll work."

Sarah laughed again. "It will work. If it doesn't, just tell him I'm coming up to see you and kick his butt."

Lindsey finally smiled, "I don't think that'll scare him Ma."

"Whatever happened to the power of a mother-in-law?"

"He knows you mom, remember?"

"I love you very much Lindsey." Tears had entered Sarah's voice.

"Mom…"

"I love Lucy too. I know you'll get her back."

Lindsey smiled into the empty apartment wishing her mother could be there. If only she could have a hug, like the ones her mother had given over a skinned knee, or some boy that had broken her heart in school.

"Thanks mom… I really have to go."

"Alright, we'll talk soon."

Lindsey put her phone down on the coffee table and stood up. Somehow, she had to get through to Danny. Her mother was right; Lucy needed her parents together when she came home.

* * *

Darts of sunlight flashed in and out of the train car as the ACELA sped on its way from DC to New York. Reid had decided it was better to focus solely on his file rather than the passing scenery as the speed made his head light and his stomach a little queasy.

"Nice digs," Garcia observed as she booted up her computer.

The wireless access had sold her on riding a super fancy commuter train to New York City. Hotch sat across from her at the conference table. JJ had been able to get them the work area on short notice for which Reid was grateful. It would have been awkward trying to talk about this case with other people seeing the pictures and hearing about Shane Casey's exploits in more detail. The press had had a field day with the serial killer anyway, but throwing it in their faces wasn't conducive to fostering good will for the FBI.

"What do you think Reid?" Hotch said as he studied his copy of the file and ignored the cup of coffee at his elbow.

"The media's done a good job muddling the facts of the case so I'll ignore their observations. Shane Casey's original stressor was the death of his brother while in custody. He had an over inflated sense of injustice when he believed his brother was innocent. The deaths of the jury foreperson and the bouncer show that he started out as a mission based killer. He had to punish those he saw as framing his brother.

Now he has evolved to a sadist that's all about torturing Detective Messer. He blames the detective for taking away his faith in his brother. He'll do anything to cause Detective Messer pain."

"What about the elaborate clues?" Hotch probed.

"Window dressing… He's just toying with the police and stalling them so he can finish his mission. We will get more of the same. He wants us to know what he's planned."

"I agree…"

"Sir?" Penelope interrupted. "I just got an email from Detective Taylor. He sent me all of Detective Messer's financials. Shane Casey had Detective Messer's debit card. He used it several times before he kidnapped Lucy Messer. I just ran a check, and I'm sorry to say that he hasn't used it in the last ten days. We have no trail to follow."

"Look for thefts of debit or credit cards in and around New York City. Add stolen cars to that as well, he's not walking around with Lucy. Were there security cameras at the Messers' apartment?"

"No… They didn't have a security system either." Garcia explained.

"We know that Casey got into the building once before when he took a piece of clothing belonging to Detective Messer." Reid pointed out over his insulated coffee container.

"Why were they sent home without a police guard?" Garcia wondered.

"Because he fell from the top of Amagansett Point Lighthouse. That's a 110.6-foot drop into the ocean. The Coast Guard and the NYPD probably assumed he had been killed. The tide was high and the point is treacherous. There was no reason to think they'd ever find his body." Reid told her as he rubbed his knuckles along the edge of his cheek.

"I would've thought that same thing." Hotch said.

"It's like some miracle in reverse." Penelope said with a visible shudder.

Hotch raised his eyebrows at her. "I'd just like to call it bad luck."

"Actually there have been instances of people falling from greater heights than 110 feet and surviving. It's not out of the realm of possibility." Reid announced helpfully.

Garcia and Hotch just looked at him. He smiled back at the identical looks of tolerant patience on their faces. "What… No exact odds Reid?" Hotch said with a very tiny smile.

"I'm still working on being more conversational." Reid said, pushing his new bangs out of his eyes.

"I think you're doing great baby cakes." Garcia smile warmly at him.

"Thanks!"

"When we get to New York, I want to talk to the Messers." Hotch ordered. "I need you to talk to Detective Mac Taylor and the ME. Garcia… Find someplace in the lab to set up."

"Got ya boss."

Reid went back to his files as his boss fell silent. It was strange profiling a known subject like Shane Casey. He decided to go over the clues left by Casey. Perhaps he could find some way to get them ahead of the game instead of behind like Casey wanted.


	5. New Friends

**_Disclaimer: See my profile_**

**_A/n hey all, here's the next chapter for all my loyal readers. Thank you all for your kind reviews, suggestions and personal messages. _**

**_New Friends_**

Danny pinched the bridge of his nose trying to ignore the headache beginning to pulse behind his temples like the beat of a loud snare drum. He lowered his glasses and set aside the trace he'd been looking at. It was ordinary chalk dust. He could identify that with one eye closed and both hands tied behind his back. It looked like the suspect Detective Flack had for his latest murder case would be open and shut.

He glanced around the trace lab noticing that he was alone for the first time that day. The sudden urge to have Lindsay there where he could see her smile and breathe in the cinnamon scent of her body wash, overwhelmed him and tears pricked in his eyes. He swiped a hand angrily under the frames of his glasses. He had to stay aloof and apart if he wanted to stay sane.

_You promised Lindsay you were done pushing her away. _

He shook his head and the annoying voice in his head that would no doubt turn out to be right. He slammed a fist down on the table. He shouldn't be sitting here doing the work of lab techs. He should be out there looking for Lucy despite Mac and the Chief of Detectives. Let them take his badge! What did it matter in the grand scheme when his little Bella Lucy was who knows where with a complete psycho.

The door to lab opened and Mac entered carrying a file folder. "I'm here to tell you before you find out through the grapevine." Mac began, "I've asked for profilers from the Behavioral Analysis Unit will be here in a few minutes. The Commissioner feels that we need -"

"We don't need more feds in here Mac." Danny interrupted. "The local yokels can't find their backsides with their hands and a flashlight."

"Be that as it may, the profilers will be here very soon. I sent Adam to pick them up at Penn Station. I want you and Lindsay to speak with Agent Aaron Hotchner."

"What good with it do?" Danny growled. "I don't need to talk to anyone."

Mac stepped up to meet Danny as the younger man stood up. "Now you listen to me. First, don't ever take that tone with me again. Secondly, I am upset about Lucy too. She's my Goddaughter. I love her too. Lastly, Aaron Hotchner is a profiler who deserves your respect. He's going to interview you both about what happened from the minute you and Lindsey arrived in Amagansett."

Danny dropped his eyes from Mac's face. "I don't see what good that'll do."

"I know you don't which is why you're going to do it anyway. You'll treat Dr Reid, SSA Hotchner and Ms. Garcia with the respect they deserve. I want you to leave the attitude here in the lab."

"Yes sir," Danny said truculently.

"Go home and talk to your wife." Mac ordered.

Danny's head whipped up again to see the sorrow and anger in Mac's eyes for the first time since he'd come into the lab.

"What makes you think I haven't been talkin to Lindsay?" He quaked feeling his stomach dropping into his toes.

"I know you Danny. You acted the same way when Ruben Sandoval was killed. You're blaming yourself when there was nothing you could've done."

"You don't know that Mac." Danny began to shout wincing at the pain in his shoulder. "I should've known he would come after me. I shouldn't have put my family at risk by insisting we go on vacation. Lindsay was smart… She thought we should stay home. I talked her into going. If we had been home, you guys could've taken Casey clean."

"You don't know that Danny." Mac laid a hand on the younger man's shoulder. "What good is it to wonder what could've been? You made some great memories there, right."

Danny managed a tight smile, "Yeah… We did."

"Then hold on to that. The evidence will tell the story."

Danny didn't speak as his boss left the lab. He looked around as though he were forgetting something important. Then he took off his white lab coat and headed to the locker room. A long hot shower might clear out his head.

00000

The elevator doors opened smoothly onto the 35th floor. Adam led the way to the stairs, with the FBI in tow. He wasn't sure he knew what to make of SSA Aaron Hotchner. His dark piercing eyes reminded him a lot of Mac when Mac was in no nonsense modes, which was most of the time. He certainly looked the part of an FBI agent with his black suit, white shirt and tie.

On the other hand, the two people with him, SSA Dr. Spencer Reid and Technical Analyst Penelope Garcia, didn't look like they belonged in the FBI. Dr. Reid looked like a teacher's assistant with his sweater vest and messenger bag. The tech girl looked like summer had exploded all over her with her red, yellow and pink dress and red spike heels.

Luckily, they ran into Stella coming out of layout. "Hey Stella… Do you know where Mac is?" Adam asked grateful for a friendly face as the drive over had been quiet. He hadn't been able to think of one word to say all the way in from Penn Station.

"He was in trace talking to Danny." Something in her face told him not to ask about that particular conversation.

"Well, these are the BAU agents," He said instead, "SSA Aaron Hotchner, SSA Dr. Spencer Reid and Technical Analyst Penelope Garcia. This is Detective Stella Bonasera." Adam concluded the introductions."

Stella shook Mac's hand. "I've heard a lot of good things about your team." Hotch said.

"Thanks… Right now we're all feeling a bit someone just blindsided us. We followed the evidence three times to catch Shane Casey and three times, he escaped the custody of the NYPD. I for one am beginning to feel just a little irritated." She said. "Normally I'd be telling Mac rather loudly that we don't need your help." She said as she began to lead them down the corridor to Mac's office. "Right now I don't care. I just want Lucy back."

"We'll do everything we can," Hotch assured her.

Mac stood just inside the door to his office as if he knew they had already arrived. Adam thought he probably did because there wasn't much that got past Mac.

"Hello…" He greeted Hotch with a handshake. "I'm Detective Mac Taylor."

"SSA Aaron Hotchner and this is Dr. Reid and our technical analyst, Penelope Garcia."

"It's nice to meet you both. I'm glad you're here."

"Is there someplace that Garcia can set up?" Hotch asked.

"Adam… Why don't you take Ms Garcia to the AV lab and find her a work station." Mac directed his young investigator.

"Just call me Garcia sir." Penelope said stepping forward toward Mac. "Miss, makes me feel like I should be teaching school."

"Okay," Mac smiled at the colorful woman in front of him. "Garcia it is. Please follow Adam." He gestured to the door.

"Thank you." She winked at Adam and followed him out of the room.

000000

The rest of the two teams left Mac's office together a few minutes later with Hawkes, who'd just come up from the morgue. "Sid said cause of death on my latest DOB is exsanguination due to the severing of his carotid artery."

"Not a total mystery, "Stella sighed. "Did he find anything useful?"

Adam held up a small specimen dish. "We have a hair and it's human that he found in the wound track."

Stella smiled in a way that made Hotch quash a smirk. This woman was someone to be reckoned with in more then one way.

"You just made my day." She said to Hawkes.

"I'll let you know if we get a hit in CODIS." Hawkes said as he broke off from the group to enter DNA.

"What's the first thing you want to do?" Mac asked as he opened the door to one or the labs large conference rooms.

"I'd like to talk to Detectives Messer and Monroe." Hotch asked.

"Detective Messer's down in the showers. He should be up in a few minutes." Mac said as they took their places around the large oval shaped table.

The bank of windows showed the New York skyline, a dark blue sky with wispy white clouds, and golden sunlight. The early summer day shined on in spite of the fact that a precious little girl was out there somewhere with a psycho.

"I'd like to speak with them at their home."

"You want to take a look at the crime scene." Mac said.

"Yes. We'll get more information if I see how they lived."

The door opened behind them and Danny entered. "Adam said you wanted to see me Mac." He said keeping his eyes off the agents in the room.

"Yes." Mac said with a tone that warned Danny not to argue. "I want you to take Agent Hotchner back to your apartment. He's going to talk to you and Lindsay."

"Whatever Mac," He turned and left the room without acknowledging Hotch.

Mac sighed and inclined his head to Hotch. "I apologize for him."

Hotch stood up and moved back to the door, "You don't have to apologize Detective. I have some idea what he's going through. Don't worry, it'll all be fine."

Hawkes, Garcia and Adam entered the room at the same time Hotch left, taking their places around the table. Everyone including Mac looked at Reid who nervously ran a hand through his wavy bangs. It was up to him to take charge. He didn't have anyone to lean on this time.

000000000

She pulled the yellow and pink flowered sheets up over Sarah's sleeping body. It had taken some doing, but she finally had her little girl to go to sleep.

"I know you're confused my beautiful little girl, but soon you'll remember mama." She smoothed the short blond hair from Sarah's little face. When her little girl woke, she would put some curls in hair and a ribbon. She'd dress her in the little dress that Sarah had loved and everything would be right again.

"Don't worry Sarah. You're here to stay with me. I'll keep you safe and never let you go again." She whispered as her little girl slept on with a tiny bit of yellow sunlight hitting the matching pillow covers. She still looked like a little angel that God had protected from the evil people who'd tried to keep her for their own.

The woman straightened up and pushed back her long blond hair. The last five years and all the failures she'd faced in finding her little girl were gone like snow melting in the sunlight.

She left the nursery and closed the door. She turned the key in the lock and headed down to the kitchen. Sarah would have her favorite meal when she finished her nap and was all dressed up. There would be music and toys back in the kitchen again. Everything was right after such a long night of pain.


	6. The Profile

**_Disclaimer: see my profile_**

**_A/n hey all... Here's the next chapter. Please enjoy and thank you all for your kind support. And thanks to my beta Reidfanatic for her support and for her wonderful ideas. _**

**_The Profile _**

Reid looked around at the expectant faces around the table all looking at him. _You've been a profiler for over six years. You can handle this one on your own for a while. _

"So…" He began with a squeak. _Oh yeah, that will inspire a lot of confidence. _

He tried again, "Normally, the BAU deals with unknown subjects or un-subs, but since we have two reliable sources that have identified Shane Casey as the man who kidnapped their daughter, the profile becomes very specific."

"How do you mean?" The one called Hawkes asked.

"Usually," Reid continued, feeling the butterflies in his stomach recede a bit. "We go into an investigation 'blind,' as it were. We don't look at lists of suspects and try to force them into the mold of the profile. Instead, we use years of precedence and case studies to build the profile to the crime. Profiles are only as good as the evidence we have to form them. The difference here is that we know who committed the crime. We'll have to reverse profile Casey to figure out his next move."

"Don't take this the wrong way, but how are we supposed to do that?" Stella asked.

"We look at his behavior since his stressor made him kill the first time. I've been going over the evidence you've collected since the first murder. It tells me a lot about his personality and thought processes.

"We know he's very smart and creative." Mac said.

"Yes… He has above average intelligence. Garcia…" He turned to the tech that had her lap top open on the table.

"Shane Casey was born and grew up here in NYC," She began. "He had one brother as you know. His parents are deceased. He was a student until the murders began. He studied semiotics and mythology."

"We know all of that." Adam said.

"Yes you do, we'll use it against him to get ahead of him." Reid said.

"How do we do that?" Stella asked. "He's always been one step ahead of us. He taunts us at every turn with bizarre clues and dead bodies. Now he has the child of one of my closest friends." She began to shout now.

"Stella," Mac put a hand on her arm. "We're all upset."

"We can't just sit around here and wait for something to happen while a profiler, who looks like a college kid, fills us in on everything we already know. Where's the new information?" She directed her wrath at Reid.

"Stella…" Mac said again. "Don't take this out on Dr. Reid."

"It's okay Detective Taylor," Reid said. "I'm used to the doubts. I will tell you what I know about Shane Casey. He began as what we call a mission based killer. He wanted to do away with everyone that had anything to do with the people he saw as responsible for framing his brother. Then, you found the evidence that convinced him of his brother's guilt, or more specifically, Detective Messer found the evidence. Now Casey has become a sadist. He enjoys the kill. He wants to punish Detective Messer for taking away his ignorance about his brother. If he didn't have the detective to focus on, he wouldn't have a purpose in life."

"So, you're saying we take detective Messer out of the picture." Hawkes said.

"How can we do that?" Stella asked. "He won't be kept out of this investigation. I can't blame him or Lindsey for wanting to be involved."

"Calm down Stella and let the man finish." Mac ordered.

"I can't make a definite decision until Hotch finishes interviewing the detectives. If they can give us more insight into that night, we can come up with a plan to force Shane Casey to reveal himself before he's ready. I believe a huge part of that is to take Danny Messer out of the equation. Then we bring him back when it's time to take Casey down. He deserves to have the arrest."

The room was very quiet for a long time until Stella said. "Okay… I like the plan." She smiled at Reid who felt relief course through his body at her eyes. "So, tell me Dr. Reid, just what kind of doctor are you."

"I'm not a medical doctor. I have doctorates in Chemistry, Engineering and Mathematics, BA's in Psychology and Sociology and, I'm presently working on a BA in Philosophy."

They all stared at him until Hawkes said. "Are you some kind of genius?"

For the first time in his life, Reid didn't feel the impatience at that question because Hawkes didn't say it with derision in his voice. "Um… Yeah, I guess that's the classification everyone puts me in although I don't think that intelligence can be quantified."

Mac was the first to smile. Adam laughed aloud then went pink in the face when Hawkes smacked his arm. It didn't matter because in the last years, Reid had learned to recognize when the laughter was directed at him or with him.

"It's okay… I'm the youngest person ever hired by the BAU." Reid said with some embarrassment.

"I'm glad you're here." Mac said, "We don't care about age around here, just talent and hard work."

Mac's phone buzzed. He spoke to the other person for several minutes as the happy smiled left his face. He put down his phone and addressed all of them. "We have a DB that needs all of our attention."

00000000000000

Hotch followed Detective Messer down the empty and surprisingly quiet hallway in the apartment building.

"I'm sure this isn't as nice as your home in DC." Danny said sarcastically as he took his keys out of his jeans pocket.

"Actually, I live in a small apartment with my son." Hotch said.

Danny looked back over his shoulder with blue eyes that clearly said he didn't believe the agent. He went back to unlocking the door and calling through it to his wife. "Linds, there's an FBI profiler here to see us." He slumped down into his favorite armchair, ignoring the agent.

A young woman with short brown hair and dark brown eyes came out of the bedroom and into the living room. Hotch took in her red-rimmed eyes and the ragged tee shirt she wore with an old pair of faded jeans and held out his hand. "I'm Supervisory Special Agent Aaron Hotchner. My team and I are here to help you find your daughter."

Danny harrumphed from his chair. "We don't need the feds here. We can handle it without you."

"Danny," Lindsey snapped. "Stop it and cooperate with him. He's just here to help us."

Danny turned in his chair. "You feds like to horn in on investigations and take all the credit for yourselves. My daughter isn't a statistic to add to your perfect average." He spat.

"She's our daughter," Lindsey shouted, beginning to cry again. "I'll take all the help we can get. We need them."

Danny jumped back up from his chair. "How can he help us? He doesn't know what we're goin through."

"I don't know what you're going though Danny. You won't talk to me." She shouted back.

"I don't wanna talk about this in fronna him." Danny pointed at Hotch. "He has no idea what parents go through. He just studies the killers. How can he help when he's never been on the other side?"

"I have been on the other side." Hotch said as he sat down on the couch.

Danny and Lindsey just stared at him. Lindsey wiped her eyes and went to the couch. "What do you mean?"

"Yeah… what happened to you that could compare what we're goin through?" Danny cajoled.

"My family was threatened once by a serial killer. I know what it's like to be on the receiving end of someone that wants to torture you for their own sick pleasure."

"What happened?" Lindsey asked.

"A serial killer we chased, escaped and forced me to send my ex-wife and son into hiding with the witness protection program."

Danny had returned to his chair, but he didn't seem to be so upset anymore. He looked interested in Hotch for the first time.

"So, how did it end," Lindsey asked softly.

"I think we should talk about you. Tell me about that night ten days ago." Hotch changed the subject, a little irritated that he'd let his personal life out into the open this way.

"We got home early that night and had put Lucy in bed." Danny began hoarsely. "Lindsey and I went to our bedroom to get some sleep. We talked for a while and then went to sleep. It was about two in the morning I think when Lucy woke me up screamin. I thought I was havin a dream when I got to her room and saw him standin there with her in his arms and a gun in his hand. Then I realized that it was real, that he had my baby girl in his arms." Danny's voice began to crack badly.

Lindsey went to his chair and sat in his lap. He held tight to her while Hotch just waited for the storm to pass. He took in the toys in the box next to the window. The pictures on the walls and the way the sunlight played over the coffee table in front of the couch. A newspaper lay open on the coffee table was though someone had been reading it when they came into the room.

"I'm sorry," Danny said. "I don't know what else to say except that he just laughed at me while my little girl cried. She was so scared and then he shot me. He left the room while I just lay there and didn't try to stop him." He cried. "How could I do that? How could I just lie there and not try? I should've done everythin I could."

"Danny," Lindsey hugged him tight. "You were lucky he didn't kill you. How could you have stopped him?"

"It wasn't luck." Hotch said. "Casey wanted you both alive to suffer. Don't give him the satisfaction and he will surface."

Lindsey and Danny looked at him as if he was nuts. "How do you expect me to just go on as if life is okay?" Danny shouted.

"Because you have a daughter out there that needs you. You said you'd do anything to find Lucy."

"We will," Lindsey said. "Just tell us what to do."

"First, I want to look at her room, if that's okay."

Danny nodded wiping furiously at the tears falling down his cheeks. "Babe… Show him her room, please," Danny asked his wife.

She kissed him briefly and left his lap. "I love you Danny." She whispered.

"Me too," He kissed her again and squeezed her hand.

Lindsey left the room… leading Hotch into Lucy's little room. She'd washed the Strawberry Shortcake sheets that morning and had just replaced them in Lucy's crib. Everything else had been left in the same place as it had been ten days ago, including her favorite toy lying on the floor next to the crib.

"Alright…" She turned to Hotch and confronted him coldly. "I don't like it when people don't answer my questions. Tell me what happened to your family. I need to know if I have to prepare myself and my husband for the worst."


	7. Light

**_Disclaimer: see my profile_**

**_A/n hello all... Here's the next chapter. I owe many thanks to my wonderful beta REIDFANATIC and to Editor Frog for their suggestions and support._**

**_Light _**

Mac led the rest of the team into the old abandoned bar in Queens. Flack's call had revealed that the scene was the same bar where Ian Casey had killed.

Mac's flashlight hit the dusty floors, overturned tables and, the filthy bar. The mirror behind the bar hung askew and full of spider cracks crisscrossing the dusty surface.

"It still looks the same." Stella said. "Hasn't anyone been in here since we arrested Casey?" She asked as she followed Mac to the body behind the bar.

"I talked to the City and this building is scheduled to be torn down. The bodega next door bought it for more parking. No one wants to try and overcome the rep this place got after the Casey brothers wreaked their havoc." Flack said from behind Mac.

Mac gave Flack a smile. "You have such a way with words."

"Just tryin to have a little fun boss," Flack went back to his notes. "A couple of kids, rollerblading down the street, found the guy. Apparently, one brainiac pushed the other into the building and he saw the guy lyin behind the bar. They called the cops and first on site noticed the little extra touch he left for us." Flack indicated the head of the victim highlighted by the late afternoon sun.

Hawkes bent down over the body and shone his flashlight on the face of the dead man. "I see pinkish froth around the mouth and nose." He moved down to the arms and hands below the short-sleeved tee shirt the man wore. "There are a few post mortem cuts and scrapes. Lividity isn't consistent with how he's lying."

Mac took in the body lying face down on the dusty floor. "I see drag marks in the dust. The problem is that we have several pairs of foot prints, including out own. Stella," he looked back at his second in command. "You get the foot prints. I don't have to tell everyone that we need to be extra careful with this scene." He indicated the prominent clue sitting on the chest of the dead man.

Reid snapped on gloves and craned his long neck over the edge of the filthy surface of the bar. The smell of musty dust and the decomposing body had his stomach swirling. He was glad he hadn't eaten dinner yet. Thank God, the smell was dry and not wet leaves. _Don't think about that… Just do your job._

He looked at the interesting clue left with the man. His eyes found their way up to the man's face, which had a mottled green and black appearance from what looked like to him a few weeks of decomposition. The skin, while bloated, didn't look like it should for what they all were thinking may have happened to this man. In fact there was something odd about it that he couldn't be sure about until after the autopsy.

"I can't say for sure, but I think there's a good possibility that this man drowned." Hawkes voiced one of Reid's concerns. "We need to do an internal exam and get the level of diatoms in his blood."

Reid looked up at the window above the man's head and studied it. There was something wrong with the quality of the light. "That window's been recently cleaned. There's no dust on it." He pointed out to Mac.

"Why would someone clean one window pane?" Flack asked, looking at Reid as if he was nuts.

"He's right," Mac went around the bar and out to the street. They watched him run his flashlight over the glass pane for a few minutes while he frowned down at the body.

He came back into the bar and stepped carefully around Stella who was processing footprints and looking in vain for fingerprints in the dirt. She snapped a photograph into the silence as Mac went behind the bar. The camera clicked repeatedly as Mac began to point out what Reid had noticed.

"The window pane is clean inside and out." He explained. "It looks like Casey situated the body like this for the light to hit his face at this time of day."

"How did he know someone would find the body at this time of day?" Flack said, sounding suspicious.

"He didn't, he got lucky again." Mac said as he picked up the clue, which looked like a some kind of currency note, along with what pierced the paper and handed it to up to Reid. "Why did he want us to see this?"

Reid carefully looked over the currency note. It was a fake, he was sure of that, but it was a good fake. There were seven silver arrows piercing the note. They were broken in different places and polished to a high shine that reflected the light in little pricks that stunned his eyes at first.

"This is a Cuban Peso," Reid said. "The seven silver arrows could be a reference to Artemis. She is known as the protector of youth. The fact that the arrows are broken could mean that Artemis failed."

The others stared at him, but he didn't see the astonishment in their faces as he turned over the peso note. He noticed seven bolts of lightning stamped at the points of entry.

"She failed in what way." Mac asked.

"There are seven arrows and seven bolts of lightning on the back of the peso. Seven in numerology means thought or consciousness. It's also Lucy's number. Lucy is derived from the Latin word Lucius, meaning light." He gestured to the light coming in through the clean window.

"What does it all mean?" Stella said impatiently. "We know he has Lucy so what's he trying to say."

"I have an idea," Reid said, "but I'd rather wait until we've processed the scene to discuss it."

00000

"Are you going to tell me about it?" Lindsey said, crossing her arms over her chest as though cold.

Hotch sighed and picked up the unicorn from the floor next to Lucy's crib. "I didn't intend for my problems to spill over to you. It's hardly professional." He said.

Lindsey went to the dresser in one corner of the room and opened the top drawer. She took a small quilted blanket from the drawer and handed it to Hotch. "My mother made this for Lucy. She knew even before the doctor confirmed it, that Lucy would be a girl. She said a grandmother always knows," Lindsey laughed around a sob that tried to push out of her throat.

"I've worked in some part of the justice system my entire adult life," Hotch replied. "I have seen the very worst and the very best of humanity. I have also seen things I can't explain. I don't think we'll ever be able to explain all the mysteries out there and maybe that's a good thing because it gives us something to strive for."

Lindsey took back the quilt and laid it against her tear stained cheek. "Why are you telling me this?"

"Because I blame myself for what happened to my ex-wife." Hotch began as he walked over to the window. He stared out at the building across the way. "There was a serial killer who called himself the Reaper."

"I heard about him. Oh God…" Lindsey hurried to the window and put a hand on Hotch's arm. "You were the one. It didn't click with me when I heard y0ou name but now…" She trailed off watching him intently.

"Yes… the first time he was active, the police sent my team away halfway through the investigation. I learned ten years later that the lead detective on the case made a deal with him. If he stopped looking for the Reaper, the killer would stop killing. The detective agreed and for ten years, the man known as the Reaper was silent. Then the detective died and the Reaper came back. My team found him, and put him away. He escaped and came after my family and me. He nearly killed me in the attempt. I had to send my ex-wife and son into hiding through the witness protection program. Foyet, the Reaper, found them and killed my wife. He shot her twice while I talked to her on the phone. I was on my way to my home where he had lured them, but I was minutes too late. I had to kill him to save my son."

"You did the right thing," Lindsey insisted roughly. "If I had Shane Casey in front of me right now…"

"Stop," Hotch left the window. "Don't say it." He responded. "I understand completely what you're going through, but -"

"No, you don't completely understand." Lindsey argued, her voice rising higher. "I am so sorry about what happened to you. I can tell you never stopped loving her."

"This isn't about me." Hotch interrupted. "I have a job to do."

He left the room, and Lindsey standing there staring at the unicorn he'd dropped back on the floor where he'd found it. She folded the quilt and put it back into the drawer.

Danny's phone was beeping as she came back into the living room. "Messer," he answered in a despondent way that had tears pricking her eyes.

Hotch's phone rang at the same time. She watched both men talking at the same time, trying to figure it out from two halves of two different conversations. She thought she heard Shane Casey and Lucy from Danny, but his face didn't look like happiness. Instead, it looked like some other blow had been dealt for both of them. She turned her gaze on Agent Hotchner. She couldn't tell from his face what the caller was telling him. As far as she could see, he never changed expression at all. It was like looking at someone who had never learned to smile. He had a son though, so he must be able to smile.

Hotch and Danny shut their phones at exactly the same time. "What's going on?" Lindsey demanded of them both.

"That was Mac," Danny growled. "They found a body in the bar where Ian Casey killed the bartender."

"Oh God!"

"It appears that a clue left at the scene has something to do with Lucy." Hotch said.

"I'm goin to the scene right now." Danny said, grabbing his jacket.

"Danny," Lindsey grabbed his arm. "Mac told you to stay here."

"I'm goin in," he pulled away from her. "No one is keepin me away." He said.

He turned and slammed out of the room. "I'm going with you." Lindsey called after him.

Hotch didn't say anything, just followed her out of the small, but homey apartment that had lost some of its light and love to the torturous whims of a madman.


	8. Conversations in a Bar

**_Disclaimer: see my profile_**

**_Conversations in a Bar_**

"There's no ID on the body." Mac said.

"No, but I did find a note in the front of his jeans pocket." Flack said, holding up a note inside two plastic bags. "It was inside a sealed plastic bag as though he was tryin to protect it from something," Flack explained.

"We'll take it back to the lab and read it." Mac said as Stella studied a print on the broken glass behind the bar. "What you got," he asked her.

"I've got lots of prints on the glass. The problem's going to be figuring out when they were left or if they have anything to do with the case."

"We'll check and see how much the oils from the skin have deteriorated and get a time line from that. Take as many as you can from different places in the bar so we can get a good baseline," He said.

"Will do," she removed tape dusting powder from her kit and set to work.

"There's what looks like sand and silt under his finger nails." Hawkes said.

"Sid will take samples. Go with the body and get the trace and his clothes as quick as you can. This just moved up to our top priority."

"You won't get an argument from me." Hawkes said.

He hurried back to the body to supervise the removal to the morgue. "I don't like the fact that he moved a body in here and no one witnessed it." Mac said as he examined the area beneath the body after Hawkes had moved it.

"I've already got a request in for the security cameras from the business up and down the street." Flack said.

"I'm sure we will see him. He wants us to know he was here." Reid said as he continued to study the peso and the arrows.

Mac sighed, "Unfortunately, you don't have to be a profiler to know that." He gave Reid a little smile. "How do we get in front of this guy?"

Reid didn't answer for a long moment. "We don't give him what he wants. If JJ were here, she'd probably be planning a press conference to get the Messers out in front of the cameras. That's exactly what Shane Casey wants so that he can see Detective Messer suffer. I think we need to do everything we can to keep their names and faces out of the press. If Casey can't see the suffering he's caused, he may make a mistake."

"What if he hurts Lucy?" Stella snapped at him. "Did you think what might happen to her if you piss him off?"

"I don't believe Lucy's with him." Reid said calmly. "This clue indicates that he's got her out of the country."

"Why would he do that? How could he smuggle a kid out of New York to Cuba." Flack asked him, disbelief clear in his dark eyes.

"That's what we need to find out." Mac said. "Everyone calm down and work the case. We follow the evidence." He stated firmly. "It's never let us down in the past and it won't this time. We make sure we catch him and put him away for good this time."

"No…" A voice said from the doorway. "He's not goin back to jail, not this time."

Every head turned in the direction of the door to see Danny standing there with Hotch and Lindsay. "When I find that son of a bitch, I'll kill him."

"Danny," Mac said, cutting off Lindsay whose face had gone white. "I know how you feel -"

"No Mac," Danny shouted as he stalked into the filthy, abandoned bar. "You can't possibly know how I feel. I felt sorry for this creep." Danny said angrily as his voice began to break. "I sympathized with him because of my brother. This is how he repays me, by takin my little girl. I want him dead."

"She's my little girl too Messer." Lindsay shouted over her husband. "Why can't you see I hurt as much as you do? Planning to kill Shane Casey in the hearing of two federal officers won't look good for you if you get the opportunity." She grabbed him with both hands on his elbows and shook him.

"Montana…"

"Oh no you don't," She shouted back at him. "Don't you dare call me that Daniel Edward Messer? I'm done catering to your whims and selfish desires that shut me out. We're in this together Messer, together! Do you understand me?" She shouted her face inches from him.

All of the fight had gone out of Danny. He slumped, losing a couple of inches in height. He answered her in a low trembling voice. "Yeah Linds, I get you."

"Good, because we're gonna find Lucy," Her voice crumpled and tears began dropping out of her eyes. "I don't want you to go to jail."

"I can't make that promise to you Linds." He pleaded with her. "Please understand that I can't bear the thought of this happening again."

She studied him, forgetting that there were two FBI agents and her whole team of CSIs standing there with them. "Alright, I'm not happy about it, but I understand how you feel. I'd like to kill him with my bare hands."

"Besides," Danny began," who knows if I'll even be there when we catch him. Look at all the back up we go standin here with us." He looked around at the people he considered family and the FBI agents he didn't know, there was something about them, especially the one called Hotch. "One of them might slap on the cuffs and that'll be good enough for me."

Lindsay kissed him in front of all of them, not caring that they stood in the middle of a crime scene. "You shut me out again Messer and I will make good on my plan to kill you and get away with it."

"Oh hoo…" Spoke up Flack with his patented smart-ass tone. "Can I watch Monroe?" He said with a wink.

"Why not?" She shot back. "I might need a witness to speak up for me."

"Be happy to," Flack grinned.

"If you're done, we have a killer to catch." Danny said dryly, but he stood up straight and tall again.

"I know that look Danny," Stella said. "Casey better watch out."

"I'll do whatever you think we should do," he turned back to Hotch.

"I was just saying to Mac that I think we should keep the Messers out of the press." Reid began.

"But don't you think we should make a plea like other parents." Lindsay said looking at Reid as if he was some kind of strange life form, or nuts.

"I agree," Hotch said. "Casey is a sadist and convinced of his power over you and Danny. If he sees you on the television crying and pleading for your daughter, it'll only make him feel more powerful."

"Alright… The only thing you'll hear from our lips is no comment." Danny said firmly.

"What will the press and the rest of the city think about our silence?" Lindsay asked.

"That don't matter baby," Danny circled his arm around her shoulders. "Let them make of it what they want to. I don't care… We love Lucy. She's our little Bella Luz," He reminded her and she snuggled into his arms.

"Then let's get back to the lab. You two can't be in there while were working the evidence." Mac cut off Danny firmly. "I want you two to get some rest and turn off your phone at home."

"I can't just sit at home." Danny began."

"You can and you will… I will keep you informed." Mac said.

Danny finally agreed, "I'll take Lindsay home and shut off the phone." He promised.

Garcia's fingers moved over the keyboard of her laptop with the skill and grace of a concert pianist. Adam couldn't help but look over at her from his workstation. He'd never seen anyone get so involved in his or her work. He thought that a bomb could go off and she wouldn't notice.

He wondered if all the techs at the FBI dressed the way she did. She wore an orange blouse that he'd heard Stella call a tunic with a bright yellow skirt. The bottom of her skirt had ruffles that met in the middle and made their way up to her waist. She had dark blue frames on her glasses and coopery hair. She was the most beautiful hacker he'd ever seen.

"Why are you staring at me?" She suddenly said without turning to look at him.

"Um… I was just wondering how you can tune out everything like you do."

He had some rock and roll music playing to help him concentrate as per usual. He hadn't considered how it might affect his visitor. He reached over and turned it down.

She looked back at him with a smile that lit up her face. "Don't worry about me. I'm on a mission."

"Did you find out anything about Shane Casey?"

Even though they'd been through every database Adam could think of, they hadn't been able to think of anything off the grid that would lead them to Casey.

"Not yet but I am working on it."

Her phone beeped interrupting their conversation. "Speak fortunate mortal," she commanded.

"_Garcia," _Reid said. _"I have something that needs your particular talents." _

"I'm your woman," she shot back.

"_Can you hack into the Pennsylvania Corrections system and find out if Shane Casey had contact with any inmates connected with the Cuban underworld." _

"Why do you insist on asking me to do things with that tone that says you doubt my abilities?"

"_Okay… I'm sorry for my tone. Will you please get a name for me?"_

She smiled around her next words. "Of course I can my handsome junior G Man. I'll call you when I get something." She hung up and turned around to see Adam staring at her with his mouth hanging open."

"Why are you trying to catch flies?"

"Oh…" He shut his mouth with a snap. "Sorry, I couldn't help but overhear you. Sorry…" He said again.

"I talk to everyone that way. It's a good thing I have an understanding boyfriend." She turned back to her station and began to work.

"Just my luck," he said under his breath. "The best looking hacker I've ever met walks into my life and she's taken.

He sighed and went back to his work trying to keep his mind on the evidence he had to process, instead of on his abysmal love life.


	9. More Questions

**_Disclaimer: see my profile_**

**_More Questions_**

Sid hummed as water drummed along the metal edges of the autopsy table. The body, brought in by Hawkes, had told him all that it could. He washed the body, taking care to keep the pounding water from disturbing the newly stitched Y incision.

He carefully cataloged the trace taken from the body as he made his official record. His eyes burned from lack of sleep and his stomach growled, but he couldn't stop even to eat. The life of little Lucy Messer was too important to all of them.

"Hey Sid…" Hawkes said. He looked up to see Hawkes with a very tall, thin man with messy wavy brown hair and the oldest eyes he'd ever seen in a face so young. "This is SSA Dr. Spencer Reid."

Hawkes turned back to the young man. "This is our ME, Dr. Sidney Hammerbeck."

"That's quite a title," Sid said. "You'll forgive me if I don't shake hands." He addressed the young agent.

"No problem," said the young man as his eyes roamed over the body. "He was in the water less than a day." Reid continued.

Sid felt his eyebrows go into his forehead. "Yes, that's right," Sid, agreed. "The lack of washer woman's skin indicates that he spent little time in the water."

"What about cause of death Sid?" Hawkes asked as he carefully looked over the autopsied body.

"You were right… He drowned about ten days ago. He had water in his lungs. I have to confirm it by checking the diatoms in his blood, but I think it's safe to say that he drowned."

"Come on Sid, I know you have something better than that for us." Hawkes said with a little smile.

"Actually," Sid began again as he snapped his glasses together and bent over to point out some scratches and bruising on the man's arms.

"You're thinking he may have committed suicide." Reid interrupted, going red when Sid looked up at him.

"How do you know that?" Sid asked, wondering how the kid could know something, it had taken him, well longer than he cared to admit, to figure out.

"See the scraping and bruising," Reid pointed out with his gloved finger. "They're post mortem, meaning that he didn't struggle with a killer. He went into the water of his own free will or he fell in. Also, I saw the pants he was wearing before and after they were removed for processing. There's a pattern in the denim that indicates someone used them as a flotation device."

Sid stared at the kid. He'd noticed the odd pattern on the pants, but he wouldn't have guessed that someone had taken them off and then used them as a flotation device.

"So that's how Shane Casey got out of that water. I wondered if he were some kind of supernatural being. There are reports, especially some of the accounts in the old Salem witch trials of the dead rising and walking among the townspeople." Sid added thoughtfully.

"Actually, we just finished studying Wicca in my philosophy course at UVA." Reid said excitedly. "It's a highly misunderstood religion. Witches are forbidden to harm anyone. They live by a code, "and it harms none, do what ye will." They wouldn't raise the dead because that would harm the person who was dead. It's more likely that the effect brought on by certain funguses that grew in abundance in the area were responsible for hallucinations."

"True enough," Sid said, "But you have to remember that in Salem -"

"Sid…" Hawkes interrupted. "Now's not the time for history lessons and speculation."

"Sorry," Reid said going a little pink in the cheeks. "I do that a lot, just ask my team."

"Anyway," Sid went on. "How did you know that his clothes were used as a flotation device?"

"I noticed that his jeans were put back on inside out."

Hawkes stared at Reid. "You're right, I didn't think too much about it. I guess we were all distracted by that odd clue."

"I have an eidetic memory." Reid said. "I can't forget something even if I get distracted." He tapped a finger against his forehead.

"Are you some kind of a genius?" Sid asked, genuinely curious.

"Sid!"

"Sorry," he removed his glasses and handed a Petri dish off to Hawkes. "I already sent up a couple of samples to trace. It looked like ordinary dust and dirt, but you never can tell. This is something different."

Hawkes looked down at the little piece of dirty white fluff. "It looks like a feather."

"Yeah… that's what I thought too.

"Any thoughts," Hawkes showed it to Reid.

"No, it's too crumpled," Reid admitted.

"I'll get it up to Stella."

"I fingerprinted him for you as he came in without ID. I've already sent the ten cards up to Mac." Sid said.

He gave them a second plastic envelope. "I also found splinter of wood."

Hawkes looked at it and passed it to Reid. "It looks like driftwood, but we'll have to test if first," he said.

"I agree," Hawkes said. "Let's get this up to the lab. Thanks Sid," Hawkes said, turning for the elevators.

Sid watched him and the young Dr. Reid leave. The young agent turned back and gave a little wave that made him smile. It was nice to have someone else around that could appreciate his little detours into useless trivia.

00000

Mac looked up as Hawkes and Dr. Reid entered the print lab together. "Dr. Reid here thinks our John Doe committed suicide or fell into the ocean."

Mac's eyebrows went into his forehead. "That's a new one. We know Casey left the body and the clue for us. Why not kill someone?" He asked.

"What if when he fell into the water he encountered the body, stripped him of his clothes and used them to get to shore. Then he decided to use the body as a means to let us know he's back."

"That's a lot of trouble to go to just to plant a clue." Mac said.

Reid shrugged, "It doesn't fit his profile I know, but anything he does is just a means to an end. First, it was to punish those he felt were responsible for his brother's death and now it's all about torturing Danny Messer."

"Then the game's changed," Mac, said as he scanned in the ten card of their John Doe. "Let's see if we got a match in AFIS." He hit some keys on the computer and they watched as the computers shuffled through possible matches for long minutes. The computer finally beeped that it was a bust on identification.

"Well, that just means he's never been in the system." Reid observed as Mac entered more commands into his computer terminal.

"We'll check all available databases that have fingerprints on file."

"I'll ask Garcia to use her facial recognition program. She can find him." Reid said.

"Good," Hawkes said. "I'll get started on this trace."

00000

Stella frowned over the results from her computer. She wasn't getting anything helpful. The samples sent up from Sid only confirmed that the body had been in the dusty bar and on the sand at the lighthouse in Amagansett. It didn't tell them anything else. She pulled off her gloves and looked at the clock. It was closing in on two pm and as far as she knew, none of them had eaten in hours. She decided to go get food orders. Maybe if they all sat down for a few minutes…

0000

"Reid," Hotch called to the young agent who stooped over a map with a marker. "Hey Reid," He said again as a smile threatened to ruin his reputation as a hard ass. "You better move that because Detective Bonasera's coming in here with a meal. She doesn't strike me as someone to mess with," Hotch said.

Reid finally looked up. "Oh, ah okay," He sighed throwing down his marker. "I've been trying to put together a geographical profile, but I'm not getting anywhere. I think knowing who were after isn't helping. Does that sound odd?" He asked his boss.

"No," Hotch said, "it doesn't sound odd. We don't accept suspect list during cases so that our judgment isn't clouded by specifics. "We've only had one other case that was remotely like this one." Hotch reminded him.

"Yeah…" Reid thought back to Fibonacci sequences and a man that wanted to torture Rossi because of his brother's death. Suddenly, some of the parallels were a bit frightening.

"Shane Casey has a thing for numbers too," Hotch said. "His brother wasn't a serial killer, but he was a murderer. The similarities are a bit off-putting," he admitted. He suddenly drew up to his full height. "Don't let Henry Grace, cloud your judgment." He laid a fatherly hand on Reid's shoulder. "Now, let's get this cleared away."

00000

Lindsey opened the pizza box from Ray's while Danny pulled down paper plates and cups from the top shelf of the cabinet. She jumped, nearly dropping a slice when something crashed down from the second shelf.

"Sorry babe," Danny said as he stooped to pick up Lucy's red sippy cup.

He turned it over in his hands, trying to feel the ghost of warmth from her little fingers in the hard plastic. His shoulders slumped as tears formed in Lindsey's eyes. "Every time I think I'm gonna be okay, I see somethin that just throws me." He said.

"It's okay," She put her arms around him and tugged him close. "I make it through five minutes thinking that all of this will be okay, and then I remember everything that happened that day and I feel like I'm going to die."

"I'm sorry I tried so hard to shut you out." He whispered into her hair as her hands stroked his back.

"You better be," she chided him softly. "I remember when you brought that home." She pulled the cup out of his hands. "She was three weeks old."

Danny laughed, "Okay, so I was a little impatient for her to finish with your breasts." He said wiggling his eyebrows at her.

She shoved him away from her. "That's so…"

"So what?" Danny said crossing his arms over his chest.

"It's so chauvinistic." She finished.

"What can I say? I'm old fashioned." He said putting the cup back up on the shelf.

"Whatever," she grabbed a slice of pizza and threw it on one of the plates. "Just for that, you can get your own beer."

"That's a terrible way to treat a slice of Ray's pizza," he said with reverence.

"Give me a break Messer." She picked up the box, her plate and their cups. "Let's go sit down and relax for a minute."

He followed her into the living area and their table. "I don't know if I can Montana. What if she's cold, or hungry? Casey's little clue said she's in Cuba. I just can't -" He put down his plate and slammed a fist down on the table. "I wish…"

"It's okay," She put her load down on the table and hugged him tight. "No more regrets, let's just eat and then we'll talk about that night and see if we can think of anything new."

"How can I say no to Ray's?" He asked.

00000

She unlocked the door to Sarah's room. Her little girl stood up in her crib screaming out for her mother. "I'm here baby. No one's ever going to take you away from me again."

"Mama," Lucy cried shaking her head as though she were saying no to the notion that this woman could be her mother. "Dada," she cried again.

"It's time for us to have lunch," the woman cooed to her Sarah. "You slept for so long. You need to have something to eat."

Lucy pushed her away when the woman reached in to take her out of her crib. The woman nearly reached out to slap her Sarah, but she held back just in time. After all, her little girl had been gone too long, she didn't remember her mother. She had to be patient.

"We'll have some chocolate pudding for dessert. Won't that be nice?" She succeeded in picking up Lucy in her arms. "We'll play with all your toys and you'll be happy." She said through tears she didn't feel on her cheeks.

"Mama…" Lucy cried.

"Mama's here," The woman said. "I promise one day you'll remember."

She took the baby out of the room and down the hall to a kitchen full of midday sun and the smell of roses on the windowsill.


	10. The Cuban Connection

**_Disclaimer: see my profile_**

**_a/n hey all, just wanted to thank all of you for your continued support of this story. It means alot. Here's the next chapter. Please enjoy._**

**_The Cuban Connection _**

Mac entered the conference room behind Stella with her bags of food from the deli down the street. He called up one of the large computer monitors so that everyone could see the note left in John Doe's pocket. "I couldn't find any prints on this that matched our databases," He said, as Stella and Reid began passing out food.

"I'm sorry for everything I did to you. I know you were only trying to love me. I can't live without you in my life. Please forgive me." Hotch read aloud as the others studied the note.

"It's signed Ted." Stella said as she un-wrapped her roast beef on rye with cheddar cheese, no mayo."

"That could be short for Theodore or Edward," Reid contributed helpfully, taking his ham and Swiss out of its wrapper and missing the looks going around the table.

"So that narrows it down to about 1 million in the city of New York. That shouldn't be hard to deal with at all" Stella said sarcastically.

"Actually, the city of New York had a population of 8 million in the census of 2000. If we say that, half the population is female, which leaves 4 million? The names Edward and Theodore account for about three percent of any given US city which narrows it down to 120,000." Reid answered while handing Mac his Philly steak sandwich and au jus dipping sauce.

"Oh, well that's makes it all better." Stella agreed, taking a sip from her bottled water.

"He reminds me of Lindsey," Hawkes spoke up with a grin around his turkey on sourdough with tomato, no lettuce or cheese.

"Speak for yourself Hawkes; you've been known to spout off on odd fact once in awhile." Mac said.

Hotch simply took in the group while enjoying the beef barley soup he'd ordered. After all the years and all the LEOs they dealt with on a nearly daily basis, it was better just to let them figure out Reid on their own. He thought.

"In any case, we need to find something else to narrow down the search." Mac said. "Shane Casey bringing this man into this case may have been an accident but we need to figure out what else this Ted means to the case."

"I agree," said Hotch. He turned to Mac. "Do you have a sample of Shane Casey's handwriting?"

"Yes… I'll get it for you."

Hotch swallowed another mouthful of the delicious soup. "I agree that this man could've committed suicide, but let's compare the hand writing samples just to be sure. Give them both to Reid, he's an expert."

"Show us what you can do." Stella said to Reid who choked on his water at her look.

The rest of the room laughed except for Hotch, but Reid thought he saw a tiny hint of a smile on his Unit Chief's somber face.

"Where's Garcia?" He said, trying to turn the conversation away from his abilities.

"She said she's too busy for food." Adam piped up over his fried egg sandwich. "She said get her an egg salad sandwich and she'd eat it later."

"Reid, take her the sandwich and get her to eat." Hotch ordered the young agent.

"Me…" He squeaked despite trying to stay calm.

"Yes you, she'll eat for you," Hotch said calmly.

Reid looked around the room, but it appeared that everyone had learned in just a short while not to disturb Garcia at her computers. Interesting, that had to be some kind of a record.

"Reid, now," Hotch ordered with that same hint of a smile.

"Yes sir…"

000000

Penelope Garcia rolled her shoulders to try to ease the burning tension radiating across her back from hunching over the computer. If she could only have her perfectly aligned ergonomically correct chair and desk from her wonderfully cool and dim office…

She sighed again; wishing didn't make it so, she reminded her tired brain. So far, they'd had zero luck with facial recognition or fingerprints on the dead guy. He had a suicide note in his pocket, but no ID. How did he expect that he'd be able to say goodbye if they couldn't identify him?

The door opened behind her and familiar footsteps walked up behind her. "Why are you trying to sneak up on me my gorgeous junior G-man?"

Reid entered her peripheral vision. "I'm going to be twenty-nine in October Garcia."

Her fingers never slowed on the keyboard. "So what?" She said, smiling a little at his put out tone.

"So… I think you can stop calling me junior G-man."

She finally stopped to look up at the tone of her best friend's voice. "What's bothering you handsome?"

"Why didn't you join us for lunch?" He held up a white paper bag and a bottle of water.

"I told that Adam person that I'm too busy." She waved Reid off with one red nailed hand.

"You need to eat. If you don't, your blood sugar will bottom out and you'll experience fatigue, the inability to concentrate, repeating yourself and -"

"Alright Dr. Annoying, I'll have something to eat." She snatched away the paper bag and opened it. "This does smell good." She admitted.

"I told you." He said smugly.

"If you're so smart," Garcia began as she removed the paper from her sandwich, "Why aren't you eating?"

"Mine's in the conference room," He told her.

"Then get back in there and eat." She pointed to the door. "I need to concentrate."

"Hotch told me to make sure you ate." Reid said without thinking.

She turned very slowly in her chair with the sandwich in one hand and her pen in the other. "I don't need a babysitter. You can tell Hotch I said so." Her dark eyes flashed dangerously. Morgan would have told Reid to be careful had he been there.

What might have happened had her computer not beeped at that precise time, Reid didn't know because Garcia's tone had gone a bit murderous. She spun around in her chair dropping the sandwich on the table so that the egg salad fell onto her pad of paper. "I think I found the answer to the Cuban connection."

00000

Reid led the way back to the conference room with Garcia hot on his heels with her laptop. "I found something or rather someone," she said as soon as the door closed on them.

Hawkes immediately stood and gave his chair as he popped the last of his sandwich in his mouth. Garcia smiled gratefully while somehow managing to glower at Hotch at the same time. "I hacked into the Pennsylvania Corrections records. Shane Casey spent time in the same cell block as Juan Ricardo Lopez." She revealed excitedly.

Everyone looked at her like the punch line of her joke hadn't gone off quite the way she expected it to. Except for Mac, whose expression went as hard as Hotch's face on its worst day? "Lopez's the hit man of a hard core human trafficking ring out of Miami. We think he may have killed at least three people here in New York, but we couldn't tie him to them. He was convicted of killing the niece of a senator in Philadelphia three years ago. He got a new trial last year on the strength of an illegal search in his apartment. He was released and disappeared. I know the detectives that brought him down." Mac explained.

"Wasn't the appeal found to be in question because the appellate judge got caught with his pants down with an underage Cuban girl smuggled into the US to work as a prostitute?" Stella asked, her expression going hard.

"Yes… So we have the trigger man of a huge organization that's been operating out of Miami, New York, and Philadelphia that just happens to have spent time in the prison as Shane Casey." Stella said. "The chances of this turning out good just went down the tubes."

"I don't want any of this information getting out to the press." Mac said.

"Don't worry," Hotch said after downing the last of his soup. "I'll handle the press."

"I'm with you on that," Mac said. "I know a thing or two about the jackals of the fourth estate right here in the city."

"Do we know where Lopez is now?" Hotch asked Garcia.

"Oh yeah… He's right here in Manhattan." Flack said as he entered the room. "One of my CIs told me the day Lopez came back into town, about ten days ago."

"I'm surprised he's still alive." Hawkes interjected.

"Hey… just because we didn't get him on the Sawyers murder don't mean I'm gonna go after him by myself." Flack said.

"I'll make your day Flack," Mac said. "Go talk to him about Lucy's disappearance."

"You serious Mac…." Flack said looking like Mac had made his decade, not just his day.

"He knew Casey in Pennsylvania. It's too big of a coincidence for me to ignore."

"If Lopez knows anything about it, I'll get it out of him." Flack promised turning for the door.

"Be careful," Mac warned. "Lopez isn't afraid of the cops."

Flack smiled in a way that scared Reid more than Hotch's patented glares. "I'll take Martinez and Cooper with me."

"Smart man," Stella said.

"Mrs. Flack didn't raise no fool." Flack said by way of a parting shot.

0000000

Shane Casey watched the latest news reports on several different television screens through pair of high-powered binoculars stolen from a sporting goods store in the mall. He'd found a perch on the building across from the electronics shop to watch and see what havoc he wreaked on Danny Messer's little life.

It gave him a nearly sexual thrill to know that he could lead them down whatever path he wanted them to go even if it was the wrong one. In fact, that was better than leading them in the right direction. They were so far off the mark in finding Lucy it was laughable.

He chuckled as he watched the television. The evening news had just started, so he adjusted the binoculars and sat back against the brick wall behind him to watch. Soon though, the feeling of euphoria began to break down as he saw from the news that Danny and his little wife were curiously absent from all the news feeds.

He reached in his pocket, pulled out a small battery powered radio, and tuned into the news. "… Sources say that New York City Detectives Daniel and Lindsey Messer, parents of Lucy Messer, who went missing ten days ago, can't be reached for comment."

_"Lacey," _said a man's voice on the radio. _"Why do you think the Messers have suddenly gone silent about their daughter?"_

_"We don't know Thorne… The NYPD issued a statement saying that the Behavioral Analysis Unit from Quantico was called in on the case. It is possible that the powers that be at the NYPD have instructed their detectives to stay silent to protect the case."_

_"Or, it could be that Daniel Messer has more to do with this than we thought Lacey. It seems strange that this detective arrested Casey twice only to escape twice."_

_"That's true Thorne, but Detective Messer wasn't on site the last time the NYPD let Casey escape."_

_"I'm sure the NYPD is looking into this case of multiple escapes of a dangerous criminal." Thorne said in a very condescending tone. "After all, they failed three times to protect the citizens of this great city. Perhaps the Mayor will look into changes at the NYPD."_

Shane shut off the drivel and got up to pace the roof top. As happy as he was to hear that he'd wreaked so much havoc within the NYPD, he felt the old anger surge at the lack of Danny Messer's suffering in the press.

Well… He'd just have to throw the inept NYPD another bone that would get Danny Messer back out into the open.


	11. Identity

**_Disclaimer: see my profile_**

**_a/n what can I say but thank for your wonderful reviews. I'm glad you all enjoy the story. Here's the next part. _**

**_Identity_**

Stella carefully unfolded the note found in their John Doe's pocket. It seemed strange that someone distraught enough to jump to his or her death would take the time it write a note and seal it in plastic. She held it up to the light and shook her head. It looked crinkled instead of like fresh paper pulled out of a notebook. She laid it down flat on the light table and studied the edges. The left and right sides of the white, lined paper looked clean so she checked the top. The edges were a bit ragged as if torn out of a notebook with a fold down cover.

The paper didn't look clean and white either. There appeared to be stains on the surface, as if someone had spilled something on the surface after writing on it. She pulled down her light and the magnifying glass to take a better look at the stains on the surface. There were tests she could do to determine the source of the stains, but first she needed to fume it for prints.

She was just about to take the paper to the fuming chamber, when the door to the lab opened and one of the profilers walked into the room. He was the younger one, she noted with interest, the one with ancient chocolate brown eyes that looked out of a young face. Right, his name was Dr. Reid, she remembered.

"Hello…" He said politely. "I hope I'm not bothering you. I wondered if I could take a look at that note for a minute."

"I was just about to fume it for fingerprints." She explained while watching him snap on gloves.

"Of course, you'll be using iodine crystals in a fuming chamber. Then you don't have to worry about tearing the paper as the fumes will adhere to the oils on the paper."

Stella just stared at him even though she was used to both Hawkes and Lindsey spouting off facts or lecturing. "Ah, yeah, I am going to use iodine crystals."

She nearly smiled at the pink rushing into his cheeks. "Sorry, I tend to ramble when I'm excited or nervous."

She did smile at this candid admission. "Do we make you nervous?" She inquired.

"No! Um, well what I mean is that it's difficult coming into cases in different police jurisdictions all over the country. Most local law enforcement officers don't like the FBI."

"I can see that," she admitted. "So how are we doing so far?" The words left her mouth before she could stop the flow despite her curiosity.

He coughed into his hand. "You're doing fine." He said or rather squeaked, which nearly made her laugh.

"Good… I'm sure the others will be very happy to know that."

"So um, I'll be quick. I just wanted to study the handwriting for a minute." He turned his attention back to the paper. "Hmm…" He murmured while leaning over the paper.

"What is it?" She felt curiosity at his tone outweigh the momentary annoyance at the interruption of her work.

"I think I need to re-evaluate my theory that this man jumped to his death."

Annoyance definitely turned to confusion. "What do you mean?"

"Well… The note is handwritten so we can see more than what's said with words." He reached out with his right forefinger and touched the first line of writing. He carefully picked up the paper and felt the back stroking his fingers over the writing. "The pressure of this writing is off." He frowned up at Stella. "If he was distraught enough to kill himself, I would expect that the pressure of the writing would be greater, instead the pressure if pretty light which shows unconcern. The upper loops of the 'ls' show a great desire for revenge or rebellion." He showed her holding the paper closer to the light and magnifying glass.

"What about the crossing of the tees, I've researched a little into handwriting analysis, but I'm no expert." She admitted.

"The handwriting is male, and the person is right handed. The tee bar shows a certain amount of arrogance and a feeling of confidence I wouldn't expect from someone that wanted to end their life."

"I read an article that debunked handwriting analysis." Stella challenged. "What makes you think you can tell what he was feeling when he wrote this note."

"I've read the same articles. They specifically meant graphology which takes its study of handwriting from the occult or magic," he answered confidently. "You can also tell from the inverted upper circle here," He pointed to an 'f' that this person is openly hostile in his dealings with other people. Someone who's confrontational isn't likely to take their life because they would see it as an act of cowardice. You can also see from the extremely tall tee that the person writing this note has a very high regard of themselves as a person."

"So what are you trying to say?" Stella asked beginning to feel like the article about graphology was right. It all sounded like guesswork to her.

"I'm saying that I don't think this note was written by our John Doe." He replied as he carefully laid the note back onto the table.

"I think I'll test it further and see what these stains are as well as getting it dusted for fingerprints."

"As you like," He shrugged his shoulders.

She studied his face for a minute. He'd closed down in his eyes, but from the tiny frown he sported, she could tell he was not happy. "Look Dr Reid -"

"You can just call me Reid if you like," he said, "everyone else does."

"Okay Reid, I admit that I'm out of my depth dealing with profilers." She admitted against her will, but something about the set of his eyes told her she could confide in him. "I'm used to following the evidence. How do you collect emotions as evidence?"

He didn't respond to her question. "I hold doctorates in Mathematics, Chemistry, and Engineering." He said unexpectedly. "I was a scientist before I was a profiler, so I can completely understand your faith in this discipline." He paused for a moment. "Some people think I'm over educated, or that I don't understand the real world because of all the time I've spent in school. I think of it as doing all I can to understand the world around me and the people that inhabit it."

She wanted to grin at the way his hands punctuated his speech as he talked. His long fingers reminded her of birds in flight. "I get that," she finally said, a bit inanely. "I wanted to be a cop to bust the bad guys, I didn't care about being a CSI until I'd been a beat cop for a few years and saw one too many of these guys go free because a cop messed up a crime scene unintentionally, or a suspect go free because of some technicality. If I can seal up an indictment, I'm happy."

She took note to the fuming chamber and added the iodine crystals. Dr Reid watched with her as the fumes rose and coated the surface of the note. Unfortunately, nothing turned up on the front or back. "Well that's interesting," She said, feeling frustration work its way into her neck. "Why would someone wear gloves to write a suicide note?" She asked Reid.

"I don't know, but I have an idea." He suddenly turned and left the room at a near run.

"That's one strange young man," she said softly. Still, she found that she rather liked his eyes.

"Keep your mind on the job; remember what happened that last time you let a younger member of the team get under your skin because you were lonely."

00000000

"Hey Mac…" Sergeant Sutter greeted back through the glass barrier between the CSI and the evidence locker in the basement of one Police Plaza. "How are things up on the 35th floor?"

Sutter had lost most of his hair and the rest bristled up over his ears and around the back of his head. His grey eyes matched the color of his hair. He'd kept his toned physique from his days in the military, despite the injury that had taken him off the streets two years ago, just five years from retirement. Every rookie that passed through his training course on the evidence locker lived in fear of his disapproval.

"The same as always," Mac admitted. "I need to see the evidence in the Shane Casey case."

"I thought you might come down here." Sutter frowned. "I can't believe that SOB actually survived a fall into the ocean and then he kidnapped that sweet little girl.

Danny brought down some new pictures of her a few months ago. I know everyone thought you was nuts, hirin him cause of his dad. I always say you can't judge someone by their family. You were right," He pointed a finger at Mac who was signing in to take evidence. "You had faith in him and now look at him." He finished in a deep, Brooklyn drawl.

"We're going to find her." Mac promised the older man.

"I know you will," Sutter buzzed him in.

Mac walked up and down the long rows of boxes stacked fifty feet above his head until he found the right one. He pulled the box down off the second level and opened it, looking for a notebook they'd taken from Shane Casey's apartment with their original search warrant. He decided to take the entire box back up to the lab; however slim the possibility, there might be something in there that could help them.

0000000000

Reid nearly bumped into Hotch going into the conference room with the suicide note and the notebook from Casey's apartment ten minutes later. "I found something," He said clearly excited.

Mac and Stella entered the room just in time to hear what Reid had to say. "I compared the handwriting on the note to the sample in the notebook. "They match…" He said triumphantly as the other stared at him.

"I gotta say I wasn't expecting that." Stella said.

"I'm not surprised," Mac said. "It matched with what Sid just told me about our John Doe. The levels of diatoms in his blood indicate he'd been in the water for less then a day. The rate of decomp doesn't match the temperature and humidity. The body was moved twice." Mac continued as the rest of the two team filtered into the room. "It was stored in an area that was cold and dry for several days before it was moved again to the bar."

"So it began to mummify," Stella said.

"Yes… but the process didn't go very far because of the temperature changes."

The door to the room opened again allowing Garcia to enter in front of Adam who smiled like someone had given him a new toy to play with.

"I found our John Doe," Garcia said proudly.

She tapped a few keys on her laptop and a picture popped up on the screen. "This is Carter Johnston. He's a stockbroker. He was supposed to be on vacation ten days ago. I found him on bank footage three days before he died."

"You hacked into bank security," Hawkes asked in surprise.

"Yeah, isn't she something," Adam blurted out then went red in cheeks when everyone stared at him. "You know what I mean," He mumbled.

"Anyway…" Garcia continued after favoring the young man with a warm look. "I found his reservation at the same place Detective Messer and Monroe were staying when Shane Casey tried to kill Detective Messer."

"So there's a connection between Johnston and Casey." Hotch asked.

"No… I can't find anything connecting them." She said closing her laptop.

"Sid thinks he died of a fall and drowned. The trace under his fingernails was sand and silt from the area. He also found a break in Johnston's left ankle as well as scrapes on his hands and fingers." Mac informed them.

"So it was just a coincidence that Shane fell into the water and encountered him." Hawkes mused.

"Yes… He's playing games with us, taking our focus off the real problem." Hotch said.

"Then let's change the game." Mac said.


	12. Flack's Discovery

**_Disclaimer: see my profile_**

**_Flack's Discovery_**

"How do ya want to do this boss?" Martinez asked Flack as they climbed the filthy stairs to the fifth floor apartment.

"We'll make it civil unless Lopez has other ideas." Flack said, checking the clip in his gun as they walked down the hallway.

A small child, no more then six, played outside the door marked 510. "Where's your mama?" Flack asked.

"She's playing with Uncle John. I have to stay out here." He said in a petulant tone.

Flack took in the child's dirty face, his short curly black hair and the broken toy car he played with while rats and cockroaches had their run of the place. He wanted to knock on the door, but the thin walls couldn't hide the sounds of vigorous sex.

"What's your name?" He asked the kid.

"Mama said not to talk to strangers." The kid said.

Flack smiled despite the smell of urine, old and spoiled food and body odors. The stench of sex and marijuana smoke layered in with the other smells, creating a miasma that would have made him gag had he not experienced dead and rotting flesh. "I'm a police officer." He pulled out his badge and showed it to the little boy.

"My mama said not to talk to pig cops." He said in a parroting tone.

Flack chuckled. "How long has your Uncle John been visiting?"

"He'll go away soon and then another Uncle John will visit." The child said.

Martinez raised his eyebrows at Flack. "Here," Flack said giving the kid a dollar bill. "Buy yourself some candy."

"Hey thanks mister." His eyes lit up and he headed for the stairs.

"When we're done here, I'm going to check into who lives in 510 and call social services." Flack said to his officers. "Let's go talk to Lopez."

Flack glanced back at the door to 510, with a deep scowl on his face. How would people do things like that to kids? He wondered if Lucy were okay for the tenth time that hour. How could it be the 21st century and people still treated each other in such terrible ways? He shook his head and followed Martinez and Cooper down the hall to its end. The two hulking cops were the biggest ex military men at One Police Plaza. They'd been more then happy to play intimidation with Flack.

Flack pounded on 517, "Lopez, NYPD open up." He shouted through the door.

All up and down the hallway, every sound cut off except for the cries coming from 510. Apparently, cops in the hallway didn't matter to a prostitute and her company.

_You gotta love New York! _

The door stayed firmly closed in his face, not that he had expected more, but he pounded harder on it and yelled as he pulled his gun out of his holster. "Open up Lopez…"

He listened hard, but nothing happened. "He doesn't want to talk to you," said a voice to Flack's left.

"Who are you?" Cooper said to the short, fat black haired woman standing in the doorway of the next apartment.

"Some guy was here a couple of hours ago," She said swaying on her feet.

"Are you high?" Flack asked, pointing his gun at the floor.

"High on life," she tittered. "Get lost pig." She sneered.

"You better tell me what you saw, or I'll take you in?" Flack asked.

She swore creatively at him, "I didn't see nothing but this other white dude. He went inside and they screamed at each other for a while. Then it was real quite. I didn't see nothing after that. I know when to mind my business."

"I can see that." Flack said testily. "What did the man you saw look like?"

"I dunno he was white, kinda short, and stocky with short brown hair. He had that look." She said knowingly.

"I seen him," said the small boy Flack had talked to. He'd returned from the candy store with a pack of gum in his hands.

"Shut up Jamal…" said the black haired woman, "or I'll tell your mama you've been talking to cops."

"You keep your mouth shut." Flack said, "I can order a drug search of your place… You want that?"

The woman went back into her apartment slamming the door and yelling very creative suggestions to Flack for his self-gratification.

"You make friends wherever you go," Cooper said with a grin.

"It's a natural talent," Flack deadpanned. "So Jamal… What did you see?" He put his hands on his knees and leaned down to the kid.

"The guy came out of the room. He said the cops would be here and to tell them he says hi to the mess man."

"Mess man," Martinez said in confusion.

"Messer," Flack said through gritted teeth as anger seethed behind his eyes.

"Yeah," Jamal agreed, "Messer…" He said proudly.

"Jamal," Flack laid a kind hand on the kid's shoulder. "Did he say anything else to you?"

"No, but he had a knife in his hand when he came out of that door. It had blood on it." He pointed to 517. "He was scary so I ran into my place even though mamma was playing with Uncle John again."

"That was a very smart thing to do kid."

"I bought some gum." He held it out to Flack. "Want some?"

"No thank you, I have to go see Lopez now." Flack said.

"We can't just knock down the door." Martinez said.

"I'm pretty sure the guy here to see Lopez was Shane Casey. You see how thin the walls are and how people never mind their own business."

"We don't got probable cause or any indication that Lopez is even here." Cooper said.

"That's why I'm calling in a favor and getting a warrant." Flack pulled out his phone.

0000000000000000

Judge Victor Reus didn't suffer fools or nonsense in his courtroom or his chambers. His routine consisted of arriving every morning at sharp 0730 hours. His court started on time at 0830 hours or he knew the reason why not. He left the office at exactly 1800 hours without exception. No one delaying him past that hour did it twice. It was 1750 hours when the ex-military man turned lawyer then Judge received a call from Detective Donald Flack.

"_Detective… What can I do for you?"_

"I'm sorry to call you so late, your honor, but I need a warrant for the home of Juan Ricardo Lopez."

"_You better have something solid Detective. Lopez's has wormed his way out of trouble one too many times for my taste." _

"I believe he had Shane Casey as a guest in his apartment. He doesn't answer his door and a witness claims to have seen him leaving the apartment with a knife."

"_Who's your witness Detective?"_

"His name is Jamal; he's a child that lives in this apartment building."

The Judge didn't say anything for a long minute. _"You want me to sign a search warrant on the basis of the word of child. At least tell me you questioned him in the presence of a parent or guardian?"_

"No sir, his mother was entertaining company at the time if you take my meaning."

The judge blew out an explosive breath. _"What else do you have Flack?"_ His tone raised a couple of notches.

"We have a John Doe found in the same bar where Ian Casey killed the bar tender. We believe Shane Casey is involved because he left us another strange clue the points to Detectives Messer and Monroe and their daughter Lucy. We discovered that they did time together in the same cellblock in Pennsylvania. We need to talk to him about his connections to human trafficking to Cuba. We believe Lucy may have been sent to Cuba?"

"_You're skating on thin ice Detective. This better lead to putting the cuffs on Lopez, and getting Casey off the street, or your badge is in question. Have I made myself clear?"_

"Yes sir…" Flack hung up the phone with a sigh.

"I take it we got our warrant," Cooper asked.

"Oh yeah, but my ass is in a sling if this goes bad." Flack said.

"Come on Flack, you're the hot shot detective that brought down most of the Irish mob in this town. You can do no wrong."

"I'm not untouchable," Flack grumbled. "Oh well, if he busts me down to street cop, I have you for friends."

The two large men grinned at each other. Cooper rubbed his huge hands together. "I think we'll find something for the new guy to do."

"That's hilarious Cooper. I'll remember that when I keep my gold shield."

The uniforms laughed. "You don't scare us Flack," Martinez said good-naturedly.

_00000000000000_

Half an hour later Flack was poised in front of Lopez's apartment. Mac had brought the faxed copy of the warrant personally. They knocked once more even though no one had come near the door for over an hour. "NYPD Lopez, open up!" Flack shouted as he banged his fist on the door.

He stood back when no one answered and let Cooper go through the door with Martinez behind him. The sight in front of them made Mac and Flack stop dead in their tracks. Trash lay strewn around the stained and pitted carpet. The smell of rotting food scattered on the creaky wooden coffee table that stood in front of a mold-green and brown-checkered couch. Dust lay several inches thick over the unused bookcase and the entertainment system.

The small filthy room had a kitchen separation in one corner of the room with dishes stacked in the sink and on the small table. The most dramatic feature in the room that claimed their complete attention, was the body lying in the middle of the room. His body lay with his arms splayed over his head. A rather large hole dominated his abdomen.

Blood splattered the filthy carpet, the television and the coffee table. The crimson liquid covered most of the body with the exception of his arms and legs.

"Look at this," Mac pointed at a photograph near the body.

Flack looked down, his jaw clenching so hard he felt the teeth on the left side of his mouth grinding together. "Danny's gonna lose it."

"Make sure he doesn't hear about this, not yet." Mac commanded. "I don't want this getting out to the press. Everything is need to know from now on. I see this on the news and someone will be pounding the beat so fast their head will spin. Is that clear?"

"You don't gotta tell me twice Mac. It's a good thing this son of a bitch is dead."

"Don't lose your temper Don… I need your head in the game." Mac said as he began taking pictures of the scene.

"I got my head in the game. Just give me something to work with on this Mac."

"Call Agent Hotchner and Dr. Reid, we need them here. I want them to see the photograph in this context."

"You got it Mac."


	13. Distraction

**_Disclaimer: see my profile_**

**_a/n once again I have to thank my excellent beta REIDFANATIC for her encouragment and her wonderful ideas for Shane Casey's clues and ways to torture Danny and the crew. She's the best and so are you my gentle readers. Here's the next chapter for you. _**

**_Distraction _**

Stella dusted for prints, or rather tried to get usable prints from Lopez's apartment._ Why the top hit man of the Cuban underground would chose to live in a place like this? _

Her eyes strayed back to Lopez's body and the photograph found lying in blood near the hole in his chest. Pain pulled her eyes down to the hand holding her dusting brush. The hand cramped up because she clutched at the brush as though it were a lifeline to a boat in the stormy high seas.

"I've got too many prints to count in here." She finally said to Mac. "Who knows when the last person cleaned in here?"

"There's no lacking in trace," he agreed. "I found a couple of hairs adhering to the blood pool next to his left hand." He held up the plastic evidence bag.

The squeaking of a rat made Stella jump. She cursed under her breath in Greek.

"I never knew you were afraid of rats." Mac said.

She felt the corners of her mouth turn up against her will, "I'm not, it startled me. I can't stop thinking about that picture. Danny is going to freak out." She pointed with a gloved finger back at the photograph on the body. It was a Polaroid of Lucy. The picture was of the type she'd seen on computers of child predators and pedophiles. If it weren't evidence, she'd burn it.

"That's why we're not going to tell him." Mac said.

"Do you really think that's a good idea? He'll be pissed."

The subtle, but cold anger in Mac's eyes would have sent a chill into her, but for the white-hot rage in her own gut. When she got a hold of Shane Casey and his 'friends,' whoever they were, she'd kill them with her bare hands.

"I know that look Stella…" Mac said in a warning tone. "We can't tell Danny about this just yet. We don't even know what it means until Agents Hotchner and Reid look at it and we analyze it. There's no use in concerning Lindsay and Danny until we have to."

Stella ran her free hand through her hair and sighed. "I just hate that we don't have them on this case."

Mac actually smiled while checking through the drawer beneath the dusty television. "I think we've all got used to the humor and brightness they bring to the lab."

Stella began to laugh. "You mean the smart remarks and flirting doesn't irritate you anymore."

Mac lifted both his eyebrows. "I didn't say that, I just said its odd not having them here."

"Whatever Mac, you're Lucy's God father. You wouldn't have agreed to that if you didn't care about them despite their tendency to get in over their heads together."

"Let's make sure this is the last time for a while," Mac said.

The door opened behind them to reveal their profilers. "Hey… You made it here in record time." Mac said.

"GPS shortcuts, and Dr Reid, are a wonderful combination. Hotch said, "He thinks all government reports on traffic patterns of major cities is light reading."

Reid opened his mouth, then shrugged and smiled. "Yeah… I read a lot." He admitted shoving his long fingered hands in the pockets of the light beige trousers he wore that day.

"In this case, it was very helpful." Hotch continued as they both pulled on gloves.

"What do you think of that photograph?" Mac asked Hotch.

Hotch's lips thinned out as he studied the photograph. "It's more of the same." He said handing it to Reid.

"I agree…" Reid said after a very brief look. "It more pain for Detective Messer. I don't believe she's in that kind of danger. Still…" He shrugged his newly muscled shoulders. "He wants us to believe she's in the hands of flesh peddlers. That tells me that she's not because he's all about misdirection, like a magician attempting a very complicated illusion."

"I hope you're right," Stella said.

"Nothing is ever sure when you're dealing with a psychopath," Hotch said, "But in this case I have to agree with Dr Reid, it's just more games.

"Wow… I've never seen a stabbing wound look like that," Reid said carefully crouching down next to the body and effectively changing the subject.

"You think that's odd," Mac said, "take a look at this."

He picked up a book he'd found lying on top of a stack of porno DVDs, looking very out of place. Hotch took the book and the object Mac had found in the hollowed out center of the book. He read the title and his jaw bunched tight. He handed them off to Reid.

"The Spirit of St. Louis," Reid read, "An autobiography written by Charles Lindbergh in 1953. The kidnapping and murder of his son is one of the most famous child kidnapping cases of the 20th century."

"So what's he tryin' to say," Flack piped up, thunderclouds gathering in his eyes. "He thinks he's goin' to be as famous as Lindbergh? What an ego?"

"He's laughing at us," Reid held up an origami animal. It looked like a spotted dog with light brown fur.

"Why a dog?" Flack asked.

"It's a hyena, as in laughing," Reid explained as he studied the little figure and the book in his long fingered hands.

"Is he trying to tell us that Lucy is dead?" Stella said, her voice catching hard on 'dead.'

"We find him, and then we'll find Lucy." Flack said, as though it were a foregone conclusion. "I mean, the whole Cuban money thing and Lopez was just to throw us off."

"That's what I believe," Reid said as he handed the book and the origami animal over to Stella to bag. "Wherever she is, he's not with her. He wouldn't have the patience or the inclination to take care of a one year old girl."

"Are you saying you think someone's helping him?" Mac demanded as the two men from the ME's office arrived and began to ready the body for transport to the morgue and Sid's waiting hands.

"Yes… I thought so the minute the news reported the kidnapping," Reid admitted. "I didn't want to work on that assumption though, until we had reason, and now I think it's a guarantee that we'll find Lucy somewhere other than where we find Casey."

Stella watched the rest of their 'team' watch Dr. Reid. There was something down in his eyes as he spoke to them that pricked at her heart. Odd…

"Let's get back to the lab and get the evidence processed." Mac said, breaking the hush that had fallen over the filthy room in the wake of the body leaving for the lab.

000000000000

Lindsay opened her eyes to the setting of the sun. Swathes of golden light shone into their bedroom, side by side with the dark shadows that lived in the corners of the room. _Sometimes the light didn't reach into the darkness_, she thought_._

Danny's hands circled her waist tightly. It was as if he was afraid that she would just float off into space if he let go. She stretched and tried to get loose from his grasp without waking him up. She'd been sleeping in the same position since their late pizza lunch and her side hurt. His hands loosened their hold on her, as though he knew, even in sleep, that she needed to move.

She turned over and studied his sleeping face. The obvious lines of pain around the corners of his mouth had deepened in the last ten days. He'd aged years since lying on the floor, shot, bleeding, and unable to stop Shane Casey from taking away their beautiful little girl.

"I wish I could take away your pain." She whispered.

His eyes fluttered open at the sound of her voice. "I'm sorry," he said around a yawn.

She reached over to run her hands through his hair. "You don't have to apologize. I know how much you love Lucy."

"I love you too," he said, lifting up onto one elbow. "I keep messin' stuff up with you. I never learn my lesson."

She felt a smile lifting the corners of her mouth. "That's why you've got me Messer."

He jabbed a finger into her shoulder, "Don't get cute Montana."

The genuine smile on his face made her heart sing. "You know you wouldn't last a day without me." She stated it as fact.

He laughed, the first time she'd heard him laugh since that awful day and night. "I hate to admit it…" He grunted at _her_ jab to his shoulder. "I hate to admit it…" He began again, "you're right. My life has changed so much since I met you. You and Lucy are the lights of my life. I don't want to live it without ya."

"It's a good thing, because I happen to feel exactly the same way about you."

He pulled her back into his arms and kissed her softly on the lips. Heat raced up her spine and into her face in time with the racing of her heart. "Please promise me you'll never leave." Danny whispered as he kissed her neck.

"You can't get rid of me that easily Messer, but if you ever shut me out again…" She pushed him over on his back. "I'll make you wish you'd never been born."

"Yes ma'am," He laughed rearing up to kiss her.

0000000000

Lindsay pulled on Danny's robe a while later and went out into the kitchen. She removed a couple of bottles of beer from the refrigerator and the makings for sandwiches. The loaf of wheat bread sitting next to the bottle of milk reminded her how much Lucy liked PB and Js. Tears welled up in the corners of her eyes and dropped down over her cheeks. How many more reminders would they have to face until she came back to them.

"Hey…"

Strong arms wrapped around her waist to pull her close. "Don't cry Lindsay."

"I can't stop thinking about her and wondering if she's okay or if she's hurt." She sobbed.

"I'm sorry Montana, this is all my fault." He dropped his arms and headed over to the living room and the couch.

"How can you say that? We all thought he was dead. We should've known better than to believe that something like a fall would take care of him." She sniffed as she climbed into this lap with the beer bottles in her hands.

Danny took one of the bottles and drank deep. "I shouldn't have related to him or felt sorry for him in the first place. If I hadn't sympathized with him, maybe he wouldn't a fixated on me. You should hate me for that."

Lindsay slapped his bare chest. "Stop talking like that. You're the kindest man I know. Of course, you'd show some sympathy no matter the consequences. It's who you are."

"It didn't used ta be who I am." He countered. "I learned it from you."

Lindsay smiled. "I'm glad I could teach you something."

"I love you so much," He said again. "Thank you for putting up with me."

"That's easy…" She leaned in for a kiss. "I happen to love you too."


	14. Finger prints and Pedophiles

"What the hell?" Garcia's eyes narrowed at the data pouring in on the screen.

"Did you find something?" Adam looked up from the three dimensional reconstruction of Lopez's wound tract he was attempting to put together for Mac.

"Yes…" Garcia pointed to the screen and Adam's jaw dropped.

"That's just disgusting and wrong," He said averting his eyes and going very red in the cheeks.

"I need Hotch and your boss in here right now." Garcia said as she pulled a tiny flash drive out of her enormous hot pink bag and slipped it into the computer's USB port.

"I'll go find them," Adam promised her, happy for the excuse to leave the room.

Tears streamed down Garcia's red cheeks as rage burned through her whole body, leaving nothing else there but the urge to wrap her hands around Lopez's throat. "If you weren't already dead," She whispered in a choked voice. "I'd kill you myself in some drawn out and very painful manner."

00000000000000000000000

"Damn it!" Stella cursed loudly as the photograph of Lucy slipped out of her fingers and dropped to the floor of the lab. She slammed the door to the fuming chamber shut and stooped down to grab the photo. It had been years since she'd dropped evidence in the lab and this particular evidence had to be able to stand up in court if… No - she thought angrily - _when they caught Shane Casey. God… She wanted to get him in an interrogation room alone for just thirty seconds._

"_Stella," Mac said entering the room in that silent way he had that freaked out the new people. She was used to it by now. _

"_I dropped the damn picture." _

_She carefully laid it on the table and attempted to keep her eyes off the child she considered her niece. It wasn't right to see her this way. She swallowed hard against tears of righteous anger and faced her boss. _

"_What's wrong Stella?" His eyes held only kindness in them as he studied her face. _

"_Oh I don't know Mac," She began to rant unable to hold her temper down anymore. "I am so sick and tired of chasing this guy. It's as if he has some kind of malevolent guardian angel helping him. He's escaped us three times and now he has -" Her voice broke. "He has Lucy God knows where with God only knows what kind of people. I can't bear to think of what they might be doing to her. I want him dead. I want to kill him with my bare hands. I haven't felt like this since - " She broke off, swiped away a tear that leaked out of her eye and turned back to the photograph and it's nicely developed finger prints. _

"_I understand more then you know Stella. I love her too, I feel the same impulse to cause him excruciatingly, and deadly pain, but we have to keep it together for her sake. We can break down after this is over. We're being watched." He reminded her. "Nothing can risk this case for us."_

_She glanced over to see the icy edge of rage back in his eyes and knew that Shane Casey had finally gone too far. He'd better hope that someone other then Mac found him. The thought made the corners of her mouth turn up. "So I take it that you're not in the mood to hear about what I'd like to do to him if I ever got him in a room alone." She teased. _

"_I think you'd have to wait in line behind everyone else on the team." Mac said sardonically. _

_She laughed and some of the pain that hid behind her eyes burst like a bubble. Then she sobered again and said. "I almost couldn't make myself touch this long enough to process it." _

_She picked it up gingerly with the tips of her forefinger and thumb, careful to hold it at the edge of the photo. She transferred it to the scanner. She wiped her fingers on her white lab coat as though she'd touched something nasty like boogers left under the edge of a table. _

"_I'd be very concerned about you if you could." Mac said. "I'm very happy that we can still become disgusted and enraged by the things we see and deal with on a daily basis."_

_Stella nodded as the machine beeped and the computer began to run its matches. She opened the scanner and pulled out the picture. "I'm finished with this. I'm going to seal it up in evidence. I hope I never have to see it again." _

"_I'll drink to that," Mac agreed with a small smile as the computer beeped that it had a match. _

_Adam burst into the lab at the same time the printer spit out a photograph and rap sheet of one Herbert Stanley, a level three child predator. _

"_We found something on Lopez's computer." He nearly shouted. "Penelope, I mean Garcia asked me to come get you and Agent Hotchner." _

_Mac nearly laughed at the young man's enthusiasm. You could always count on Adam to break the unbearable tension. _

"_Alright settle down Adam," Mac said. "I think Agent Hotchner and Dr. Reid are in the morgue with Hawkes and Sid." _

"_Right," Adam turned for the door. "I'll go get them." _

_He hurried back out the door. Mac raised an eyebrow at Stella who had a huge grin on her face. "Something funny…" _

"_I think someone's got a bit of a crush." She laughed. _

"_Adam and that tech girl?" Mac inquired a smile lifting the corners of his mouth despite the fact that they had a pedophile to catch. _

"_Yeah, stranger things have happened." Stella quipped._

"_Let's go talk to our new computer hacker genius." Mac held open the door for his friend _

_0000000000_

"_I've sent samples of his blood up to tox, but the cause of death was exsanguination." Sid told the three men standing at the opposite side of the autopsy table. _

"_Come on Sid…" Hawkes said, "I know you've got more then that for us." He teased his friend. "Out with it." _

"_Okay… I've seen every type of stabbing wound you can imagine. This is different. I've never seen this kind of wound in my years as a medical examiner. Also, there's a wound on the back of his head."_

_He turned the man's head and showed them the torn and bloody flesh. "Someone knocked him out and then stabbed him while he was down." He pulled his glasses up to his eyes and let the magnets hook the two halves together over his nose. _

_Sid bent over Lopez's corpse and pointed a latex gloved finger at the hole in his chest. "See the edges or the wound."_

_Hawkes and Reid leaned over the same time nearly bumping heads as they watched fascinated as Sid explained what he'd found in the autopsy. _

"_It's smooth not jagged and the shape is odd." Hawkes said confusion darkening his eyes. _

"_Yes…" Sid touched the inside of the wound. "I took a closer look from the inside. Whatever was used to penetrate this man's flesh in such a distressing way, entered from above, moving up and down." _

_Dr. Reid and Hawkes straightened up and backed away from the body so that Sid could show them what he meant. The smell of fresh blood, formaldehyde and other body fluids made Reid's nose itch. He managed not to touch the tip with his bloody gloved thankfully, the other didn't notice until he sneezed. _

"_Bless you," Hawkes said. _

"_Did you know that saying "God bless you," to a person that sneezed began because people used to think that evil spirits could enter and exit through the nasal cavity." He fell into lecture mode missing the look on Sid's face. "Sorry," He apologized. "It's an occupational hazard with me." _

"_Don't apologize… I find your knowledge of odd facts refreshing." He looked significantly at Hawkes._

"_Why are you looking at me like that Sid?" Hawkes asked with a smile. "I appreciate your endless supply of useless trivia."_

"_Okay… we all have our interesting personality quirks," Hotch spoke up for the first time. "Let the man get on with his demonstration." _

"_Thank you," Sid said to Hotch. _

_Sid pretended to push something and pull it out of the wound. He pistoned his arms as though using an old-fashioned butter churn paddle. "He had to be lying on his back when it happened." _

_Hawkes nodded his head in agreement. "The blood splatter at the scene backs up your assertions." _

"_I've seen this somewhere before," Reid said as he bent over the wound tract again._

"_What do you mean?" Hotch asked. _

"_I'm not sure. It looks like something I was reading about a couple of months ago. I need to go have Garcia look something up on the computer for me." _

"_Go… We'll finish up here." _

"_Actually, Mac sent me down to get you." Adam said hurrying into the room from the elevator. "Garcia found something you all need to see."_

_0000000000000000000000_

_The rest of the team crowded into the AV lab a few minutes later. "You wanted to see us." Hotch asked first. _

"_I went through Lopez's computer files." She began her fingers flying over the computer keyboard like a concert pianist at Carnegie Hall. "He's got tons of kiddie porn on his hard drive." _

"_You have that look on your face that said I'm about to get a headache." Hotch said from his position just over her shoulder. _

_She looked up at him through her sapphire colored frames. "You know me to well my liege. Everything in this particular file was downloaded to his computer in the last six hours." _

"_Sid told us he was killed less then four hours ago." Reid said. _

"_That's my point mon cher," Garcia continued not seeing the smirks of the CSI team at her endearment. "Why would you download all this porn into your computer in the same day? There's no record of anything like this since he was released from prison." _

"_He could have been experimenting." Adam put in hopefully only to be glared at by three different people. _

"_I doubt that, he was a hit man and a drug dealer. He wasn't the type," Mac said. _

"_I agree," Hotch put in. "There's something not right about this at all." _

"_So who'd want to make it look like he sold Lucy to a pedophile ring?"_

"_Shane Casey," Everyone answered at the same time. _

"_Were you able to trace the download?" Mac asked her. _

"_Oh yeah… It was child's play." Garcia said. _


	15. Good Cop, Bad Cop

**_Disclaimer: see my profile_**

**_A/n here's the next chapters my lovelies. Again, mega thanks to my fab beta REIDFANATIC for her support of me and the plot bunnies. _**

**_Good Cop, Bad Cop _**

"What did you find Garcia?" Hotch prompted as the others waited with a palpable excitement in the air.

"I traced the downloaded material to their origination with this man." She hit several keys on her laptop and a face popped up on the screen. "This is Herbert Stanley - a level three pervert."

"We found his finger prints on that photograph of Lucy." Mac interrupted as the others looked at each other with growing disgust and fear.

"So Shane Casey gave Lucy to a pedophile?" Adam said, anger kindling in his kind brown eyes. "Mac, we can't just stay here. We have to do something." He turned for the door, yanking it open so hard it pulled out of his grasp and fell shut with a crashing bang.

"Adam…" Mac snapped out.

The younger man stopped at the command in his boss's voice. "But Mac we have to do something." He cried. "She's just a little girl."

"I know that. We have to do this the right way."

Adam hung his head. Garcia moved to his side and put a hand on his arm. "Don't worry… between my doves and your friends, we'll find Lucy."

"Garcia is right." Hotch said. "We do this the right way.

The door to the AV lab opened again behind of all of them. "What're you up to? Watching the game." Flack's teasing voice said.

"No…" Mac answered. "But I have a job for you."

Flack's eyes lit up with excitement and amusement. "Bring it on."

"It seems that Lopez's computer is filled with kiddy porn. Our new hacker friend Garcia," He gestured to her while she beamed in pride at them. "She traced all the down loads to a Herbert Stanley. Stella also found his prints on the picture of Lucy."

Don's mouth firmed up into a tight line and his eyes went hard and dark as the glittering carapace of a beetle. "Please tell me I get to bring this creep in." He said.

"Yes… This time let's get to him before Shane Casey does," Mac said.

Flack turned for the door, followed by Mac and Stella. "Hawkes, see what you can do to find out what kind of weapon was used to kill Lopez."

"You got it boss."

Sheldon turned to Reid sizing him up with his liquid brown eyes. "You said to Sid that you thought you'd seen that weapon before," He asked.

"Yeah… I just wish I could remember where."

"Let's get into reconstruction. We've got a huge data base of known weapons we can look at."

The two doctors left the room, leaving only Hotch, Adam and Garcia. "I'm going to get back to work on that 3-D reconstruction of the wound track." Adam told them.

"Garcia…" Hotch said. "I want you to go into Herbert Stanley's background. I want you to find all there is to know about him."

Garcia winked and gave Hotch a salute. "You'll know him better then he knows himself by the time I'm finished with him.

Hotch gave her a very rare smile of approval. "I have the utmost faith in you."

She went very rosy in the cheeks. "Thank you sir, that means a lot coming from you."

00000000000000000000

Herbert Stanley was sweating. Beads of moisture dotted his forehead and stained under the arms of his green polo shirt. His graying hair had receded back so far that he'd compensated with a very unattractive comb over. His fingers had gone white as he clasped them in front of him on the metal interrogation room table.

"Come on Herbert, you know the drill." Flack said.

"I didn't do nothin." Stanley began again.

"If I had a nickel for every time I heard that from a scum bag like you, I'd be a millionaire." Flack said from his position leaning up against the two way mirror."

"We've got your finger prints on a photograph found at a crime scene this afternoon." Hotch said sliding Lucy's picture in front of Stanley.

"I told you I've never seen that kid before in my life. I know I was a bit of a naughty boy in the past, but I'm all over that now. Just call my doctor. He'll tell you."

More sweat popped out on his forehead. His eyes widened at the picture and a light pulsed in his icy gray eyes.

"No one blames you Herbert…" Hotch said, "She is a very beautiful child."

"It's not my fault…"

"You freakin' scumbag." Flack launched off the wall and reached out for Stanley's neck.

The frightened man leaned back in his chair. "It wasn't my fault." He squealed like a pig. "They were the ones that -"

Flack grabbed him around the neck and pulled him forward. "Don't you dare say it." He spit in the man's face. "You're nothin' but a pervert. I'd like to beat your face into a bloody pulp." Flack shouted, as his face turned the color of over ripe beets.

"Get him off me," Stanley screamed.

Hotch stood and pulled Flack away by both his arms. "If you can't stay calm detective you better leave." Hotch said tightly his lips white around the edges.

"How can you listen to this bastard and agree with him. This is Lucy…" Flack yelled straining against Hotch's restraining arms.

"I said control yourself or leave." Hotch demanded his dark eyes snapping.

"Fine… I can't stand another minute with this pervert. So much for the mighty BAU," Flack pulled out of Hotch's grasp and slammed out of the room.

Hotch took his chair and straightened his tie. "I'm sorry about that. He's very upset. His best friend is that little girl's father."

"I didn't do nothin to her." Stanley said, but he couldn't keep his eyes off the photograph. "You're just trying to get me to admit to somethin bad."

"I know you didn't hurt this child Herbert." Hotch said. "We just need to find her. She's the daughter of two cops. It would go very well for you if you help us."

Stanley swallowed hard as he reached out with trembling fingers to touch the picture. "He said she belonged to his sister. He said she'd been kidnapped and he wanted her to go back to her rightful home."

"So you took the picture." Hotch prodded.

"Yes… He said it was the only way to punish her kidnapper. I didn't know he was lying to me."

"Who told you?" Hotch asked. "It was that guy from the television, the one that killed those people and escaped from prison. He broke into my apartment one day with the child. He was just sitting there. I thought -" He stopped and stared down at his trembling hands.

"You thought he brought her for you." Hotch asked.

"Yes… I never hurt no one. I only take the photographs and send them out to the people that subscribe to my website." He said, avoiding Hotch's stare.

"You wanted her for your self." Hotch said.

"I - um… I don't… "

"It's okay… I do understand." Hotch sympathized. "I promise I'll speak to the judge on your behalf. I can help you if you want it."

Herbert licked his lips. His fingers stroked the photograph. Hotch snatched it out of his hands. "I can't help you if you don't help me." Hotch reminded him.

Herbert swallowed and swiped a hand across his forehead. "He told me to send the photographs to that guys computer. He said you wouldn't ever know about me. He lied to me." Herbert croaked.

"Yes he did… Tell me what he doesn't want me to know." Hotch encouraged him with a kind look and a very tight smile.

"He said that I wasn't to tell you that he would kill that detective's pretty little wife and make him watch. He said he'd leave the detective alive and all alone."

Herbert smiled a very nasty little smile. "Can I keep the picture?" He asked, licking his lips again.

"No… I think we're done here."

"Hey… You said you'd help me if I told you." Herbert shouted, getting out of his chair.

"I lied…" Hotch informed him and left.

0000000000000000

Flack stood outside the room looking in at Herbert who lay with his head on his arms sobbing like a little child. "I didn't think that would work." He said without looking at Hotch.

"I know…"

"How can you do that?" Flack asked keeping his eyes on the man in the interrogation room.

"I have a son that's a few years older than Lucy. I couldn't live if anything like that happened to him. So I put aside my disgust and I sympathize with men like him to get what I need."

Flack finally faced Hotch, leaving the crying man to his tears. "I don't envy you."

"Don't worry about me. We need to get Detective Monroe into protective custody right away."

"Danny won't like that." Flack said his smile returning.

"No… I don't imagine he will. The fact is that we need to protect her. If that means making her go in to protection against her will, then we do that," Hotch said flatly. "In the mean time we do our best to solve this before Casey makes his next move."

"Okay, I'll go talk to Mac," Flack responded in the same way he might treat a man with an itchy trigger finger.

00000000

Flack left Hotch alone in the hallway. The BAU unit chief sighed and observed Stanley through the two-way glass. That feeling, the one that had overwhelmed him when he heard the gunshots that ripped Haley from him, rose up like a tidal wave in his chest. He'd tried to make it stay buried since hearing about this case, but it wouldn't go away. He couldn't let another child lose her mother because of a psychopath. He couldn't let Danny lose the woman he loved. At least the detective was smart enough not to put his work ahead of his family. He should be rewarded, not punished.

He sighed and turned away from the window. The sooner they got to Shane Casey, the better off they'd all be. Maybe when the cuffs were on Casey he could push the hate and the rage back down to that place in his gut where it belonged.


	16. Bad News

**_Disclaimer: see my profile_**

**_a/n here's the next chapter kiddies. Please enjoy_**

**_Bad News _**

Shane paced up and down his tiny and unbearably shabby motel room. His television buzzed with snow across the middle of the color picture and no amount of adjusting seemed to help. The sound of the television in the room to his right and the sound of vigorous sex in the room to his left, also intruded into his thoughts.

He smiled a little at the thought of that little ball of sunshine hidden away from Danny Messer forever. He'd led them on a wild goose chase that much was true. Still there was truth hidden in all the clues, if only they could see it. He smiled again, they weren't smart enough to figure it out, at least not until he'd got what he wanted from Danny Messer.

The news returned to the screen and he raised the volume. It was finally time for an update on the case.

"Lacey… What can you tell us regarding the Lucy Messer kidnapping case?"

"We don't have anything new Thorne. The detectives remain in their home, refusing any contact with the press."

"Thank you Lacey…" The impossibly blonde newscaster with the bluest eyes Shane had ever seen spoke seriously into the camera. "We have an expert in hostage negotiation with us, former FBI Hostage Rescue Team captain, Franklin Rose. Mr. Rose… Isn't it unusual for the family of a kidnapped child to remain silent? We see pleas for the safe return of family members all the time.

The large man, with a full head of jet-black hair and dark eyes, looked soberly at the camera on a split screen with Thorne.

"No Thorne… I'm sure the FBI Behavioral Analysis Unit assigned to this case, as well as the NYPD has a strategy behind keeping the Messers quiet."

The camera zoomed in on Thorne again, looking very grave and concerned. "Our sources tell us that Unit Chief Aaron Hotchner is leading this investigation with Detective Mac Taylor. Isn't it true that Agent Hotchner himself was a victim of one of the most vicious serial killers this part of the country as seen since the Son of Sam? Do you think Agent Hotchner is the best man to lead this investigation given that his wife was killed by the man known as the Reaper?"

"I know of Agent Aaron Hotchner. He's always been one to do things his own way. He's lost two members of his team in the last four years." Rose stated to the obvious delight of Thorne. "The official word was that these two agents left of their own volition, but the unofficial word is that one of them, a woman, left after only one year due to a shooting deemed righteous by the bureau, but left Agent Hotchner suspicious of her mental stability. The second to leave was an agent that survived over thirty years in the bureau, but was also targeted by a serial killer that killed his lover."

Thorne frowned for the studio and the audience. "But don't you think that unofficial word." He made quoted with his hands, "should be taken with a grain of salt. I'm sure that Agent Hotchner is a fine agent."

Rose pursed his lips and Casey couldn't decide if the man was trying not to laugh. "I only know that the team he heads is supposed to be one of the best in the world. That's the official line anyway. The facts are that he came here with a former computer hacker hired by the bureau because they couldn't stop her from wreaking havoc with her computer. The other member of the team Aaron brought is a certified genius hired by the bureau when he was only twenty-one. The rumor is that he's always been given special treatment by the FBI because of his so called amazing mental abilities."

"You're speaking of Dr. Spencer Reid," Thorne said.

"Yes… There is some question about his mental stability as his mother resides in a sanitarium in Las Vegas."

Thorne smiled so that all of his perfectly capped, white teeth sparkled to the camera. He looked like Christmas had come early.

"You're saying that the FBI hired a man with a history of mental illness." He asked with glee.

Rose frowned at the camera. "I don't know, I'm just saying that his mother is mentally ill. The FBI has stringent guideline and tests one must pass before working in the field. If the FBI doctors have deemed him fit, it's not my place to challenge it."

"Of course…" Thorne went on happily, but without a smile. "Are you saying that the advice the BAU gives the NYPD and the Messers could be suspect?"

"No… I'm sure that they have the best of intentions." Rose said.

"Well… That's all we have time for, up next we have -"

Shane pointed his remote at the battered television and cut Thorne off mid sentence. The FBI had told the Messers to stay out of sight in the hopes of pissing him off. Well it had worked. He was pissed off big time. Perhaps it was time to take it to the next level.

000000000000000

Lindsay snapped off the television. How could the news people say such things about people that were trying to help them? She hadn't met Dr. Reid or their computer expert, but she was sure they would be as nice as Agent Hotchner had turned out to be. She was just glad that Danny had decided to take a shower during the broadcast. He'd want to bust some heads had he heard what the jackass Thorne had to say.

The doorbell rang just as she was getting up to go to bed. The hour was getting very late so she couldn't imagine who could be ringing the doorbell.

The people on the other side of the door surprised her almost as much as the newscast had angered here. "Hey Flack… What are you doing here?"

He stood there with two large police officers that she recognized from One Police Plaza. "I came to talk at ya Lindsay. We got some bad news."

She swayed on her feet, feeling the world go gray and then black as she fell. Someone grabbed her from behind, but she couldn't hear the voice that called out to her. Oh God… A deep, bone chilling cold settled in around her heart. It had to be Lucy. They'd found out something terrible… She couldn't think. The blackness reached up to claim her before she heard what Flack had to say.

Something wet rubbed at her face. She opened her eyes to see a very concerned Danny and a very unhappy looking Flack standing over her. This was it, she thought as unbearable pain sent tears cascading over her face.

"Danny…" She wailed reaching up for him.

"Hey Montana…. It's okay… It's going to be alright."

"How can you say that when our baby is -"

She just couldn't make her mouth form the words. Her head ached and her stomach thumped and rolled. Dizziness made the world go up and down like a ship on the high seas.

"Take it easy Montana. They haven't found Lucy yet." Danny glared up at Flack.

"I'm sorry Lindsay. I didn't think about what I was sayin." He looked a bit like a whipped dog so she decided to cut him a break.

She let Danny help her up to a sitting position on their couch. "So what's your bad news?"

"What I meant to say," he began with a much-chastised smile, "Is that Mac believes that Casey might come after you next."

Lindsay felt her heart race as she turned to look at Danny who looked like someone had punched him hard in the gut. "Let him come," she said despite the gut wrenching, knee quivering fear that took up residence in her heart. "I'm not afraid of him. He can't hurt me anymore then he already has." She sniffed as more tears dropped from under her eyelashes.

"Don't say that baby," Danny wrapped her up in his arms. "I've lost Lucy; I can't bear the thought of losing you too."

She wrapped her arms around him and gave into the tears and sobs she'd been holding back ever since that terrible night. He rocked her as he sometimes rocked Lucy when she'd had a particularly rough night and couldn't sleep. "It's gonna be okay Montana. We're gonna find her and then we'll be a family again."

"How do you know?" She sobbed. "I tried so hard to believe in us and Mac and the others. I don't know how much more I can take on faith." She sniffled.

"Linds," he softly pushed back her hair. "You never gave up on me, even when I pushed you away. I will not let you give up on me or on our family." He whispered hoarsely.

"This is really romantic and all, but we need to get goin." Flack interrupted in an irritated tone.

"Nice…" Danny reached up and smacked his friend hard and the leg. "I'm in the middle of somethin important here."

"I know that, but Mac wants you both in the safe house right now." Flack reminded him.

"Wait," Lindsay pushed her husband away. "I'm not going anywhere. This is my home and I will not be chased away from it by Shane Casey or anyone else." She stood up and got in Flack's face, which was a feat, considering the difference in height between them. "Do you hear me?" She shouted.

"Come on Montana… Mac is right. We have to keep you safe."

She whirled around to take her anger out on her husband. "Why are you saying that?"

Danny explained what Flack had told him after she fainted. She listened without speaking until he finished. "So you're saying that some man told Mac that Shane Casey will kill me and make Danny watch. How can we trust him?"

Danny looked over at his friend. "Lindsay is right… Why should we believe him?"

Flack decided to look at his officers rather than at his friends. "The man wasn't just a suspect. He's a well know pedophile. He took a picture of Lucy and gave it to Shane Casey to leave with a DB."

"What kind of picture?" Lucy asked as she clutched close to Danny.

"I don't think that's a good idea Lindsay. Mac told me -"

She pulled out of Danny's arms and stepped back into Flack's face again. "I don't care what Mac told you not to tell us." She said as calmly as she could. "Do you want to be on his bad side, or mine?"

Flack gulped and glanced at Danny for help. Danny grinned and shrugged his shoulders. "Don't look at me. I can't help you pal."

"Thank you very much," Flack growled.

He told them all about the true nature of the photograph and everything that had happened in the interrogation room.

"Son of a bitch," Danny shouted. "I'll kill them both for this."

Flack grabbed his arm and the two large officers moved in front of him. "Don't make me put you in cuffs." He warned his friend.

"You couldn't even if you tried." Danny shot back.

"I'm not going anywhere," Lindsay insisted. "I'll deal with Mac if I have to."

"Fine, you call him and tell him. I'm out of this," Flack held up his hands.

"You are such a coward," Danny laughed.

"Not nice Messer, that's not nice at all." Flack said as the officers began to laugh behind him. "You guys shut up." He ordered but they ignored him.

"I'm calling Mac," Lindsay said. "I want to know exactly what's going on."


	17. Montana

**_Disclaimer: see my profile_**

**_a/n hey all, thanks again for your wonderful support of this story. You all rock!_**

**_Montana_**

Mac slammed down his phone. Hotch looked up in surprise. "What's wrong?"

"Lindsay won't leave her home and I can't order them to take protective custody." Mac answered as he rubbed at his eyes.

"I'm not surprised," Hotch said. "She's a very strong young lady. I've only spoken with her once, but she impressed me."

Mac smiled. "I remember the first time I saw her. She was the best young investigator Montana had to offer, so when I had an opening in my lab I wanted her here working with me. That first day she called me sir, and I hate that. She spouted off everything you wanted to know about tigers."

Hotch let a smile drift over his face. "Reminds me of Reid," he mused. "He's had it rough for most of his life, but he manages to hold onto innocence that I wish I still had."

"He's very unique." Mac agreed.

"That's putting it mildly."

"I don't want anything to happen to her and not just for Danny's sake." Mac said softly.

"When Stanley told us that Detective Monroe was next on Casey's list, I thought the same thing that we needed to get her into protective custody. Now I think it's better if we leave them in their home."

Mac raised his eyebrows, "I thought you were all for getting them into a safe house."

Hotch sighed. "You know what happened to my family." He stated flatly.

"Yes… I don't see it affecting your work though."

Hotch stood up and paced to the window behind Mac's desk "When Herbert Stanley told us that Casey wanted to grab Detective Monroe, I reacted like a husband and a father rather then an Agent. I didn't think."

"Hotch…"

"No, it's alright, I'm fine… If we leave the Messers in their home, we have the police and the media that's camped out on their doorstep as a barrier to Casey. Even he won't risk capture or being seen on television at this point. He still has a plan for Detective Messer."

Hotch went back to his seat across from Mac. "I trust you Hotch. If I didn't I'd call your boss and ask for another team to help."

Hotch actually laughed. "She would love that."

"I sense a story." Mac said with a little smile.

"It's a long one that will have to wait for another day." Hotch promised.

They sat in silence for a few minutes while the sky beyond Mac's window filled with the golden pin lights of the city. The sky had gone black in the absence of stars they couldn't see because of those same city lights.

"Mac… It's getting late. Why don't we all get some sleep?" Hotch said at length.

"I can't sleep. Lucy's out there and I can't just leave her alone." Mac responded loudly.

Hotch simply stared at him as the man massaged his temples. "You have a splitting headache. I can see it. When was the last time you got any rest?"

"I can't remember," Mac responded truthfully. "I've never been good at shutting down during an open case and this time, it's even worse now that it's Lucy."

"Would you believe me if I told you I understand exactly what you mean?" Hotch said leaning back on the small sofa across from Mac's desk.

Mac also sat back in his chair as though they were going to have a friendly chat, but he couldn't make his face relax.

"I believe you. You wouldn't be in your position if you clocked out at five every night." Mac said raising his eyebrows at his counterpart.

"No… But I've wondered in the last year if it's worth the cost."

"Yes…" Mac agreed.

"You need to get some rest, we all do." Hotch insisted. "There's nothing more we can do tonight."

"He's right," Stella said.

Neither man showed surprise at her entering the room so silently. "I hate to admit it Mac, but we need some sleep."

"Alright… let's pack it in." Mac agreed.

0000000000

Hawkes and Reid had hit a dead end the night before in finding the weapon that killed Lopez. They met up early the next morning with more sharp force weapons and a dead pig.

"You're getting way too much enjoyment out of that," Hawkes said as Reid stabbed the side of the pig with a giant machete.

The young profiler grinned at his new friend. They had bonded over weapons testing. "I've never done these kinds of reconstructions before," He said enthusiastically. "Usually I'm doing victimology or a geographic profile."

Hawkes raised an eyebrow at him and smirked. "Sounds like fun," he laughed.

"Actually, I feel most comfortable with facts and statistics." Reid informed him.

"I'll bet you do."

Adam burst in on them just as Hawkes was hefting a wicked looking Bowie knife in his right hand. "I found the weapon." He informed them in a high state of excitement.

He showed them the three D rendering of the wound track he'd been working on by pulling it up on the computer. "I wouldn't have been able to get this done without Penelope's help. She's amazing." His eyes lost their focus.

"Hey lover boy…" Hawkes smacked the side of his head. "Stop daydreaming and focus."

"Right…" Adam hit keys on the computer, but his smile didn't dim. "It's called a kukri!" He announced as though they would know exactly what a kukri looked like.

Reid's eyes lit up. "A kukri is a curved knife that can be used as a tool or as a close combat weapon." He pointed out the oddly curved blade on the screen. "The cutting edge is inwardly curved in shape and is the icon of Nepal. It was, and in many cases still is, the basic and traditional utility knife of the Nepali people. Very effective when used as a weapon, it is a symbolic weapon for all Gurkha regiments throughout the world and the Nepali Army signifying the courage and valor of the bearer in the battlefield. It is a part of the regimental weaponry and heraldry of the Royal Gurkha Rifles. It is a part of many traditional rituals among different ethnic groups of Nepal, including one where the groom has to wear it during the wedding ceremony. It is known to many people as simply the "Gurkha blade" or "Gurkha knife" It's an ancient weapon still in use today."

"Do you know everything?" Adam asked.

"Leave him alone and tell us what else you found." Hawkes prodded his friend in the shoulder.

"That's it except that the blow was struck while Lopez lay on the floor." Adam said confirming Sid and Hawkes' suspicions. Adam appeared disappointed that he didn't have anything else to add to the case.

"So where did Casey get an ancient weapon like that?" Hawkes asked.

"I'm going to ask Garcia to dig up any report of stolen ancient weapons. I'm sure it'll be a short list." Reid said as he left the room.

Adam jumped up. "I better get back to the lab."

"Going to see if your girlfriend's okay?" Hawkes teased him.

Adam blushed pink in the cheeks, which clashed with the red and blue pattern Hawaiian shirt he wore over a white tee shirt with a pair of brand new blue jeans.

"She has a boyfriend." He protested.

"You win some, lose some," Hawkes clapped him on the back. "And, I didn't see a ring on her finger so…"

Adam's face lit up like the New York skyline at night. "Yeah… I didn't see one either," He enthused.

"Let's get back to work." Hawkes slapped him on the shoulder. "You'll have to wait till this is over to make your move lover boy."

000000000

Stella and Garcia sat in the break room with a couple of cups of coffee. All of them had gotten by on five hours of sleep, so strong coffee was on the menu.

"They flirted for a couple of years before they got together." Stella was telling Garcia. "They both thought they were pulling something over on us, but you could see it in their eyes."

Garcia smiled. "One of my best friends at in the BAU is hotter than July in Death Valley. We flirt all the time but we don't mean it. I think sometimes people think we do."

"I remember the first time I could see that Danny really liked her. We had a case involving a chef that killed a woman who'd ruined his first restaurant with what I'm sure was a frivolous lawsuit. He had this event for the rich and bored. He served all kinds of bizarre cuisine like fried tarantulas, grasshoppers and worms. Danny brought in a selection of this stuff after the case ended for us to try. We all declined except for Lindsay."

Penelope nearly choked on her coffee. "She ate that stuff?" She asked in disbelief, her eyes widening behind the red frames she wore that day.

"Yep… so did Danny," Stella laughed. "The rest of us had pizza. It was then that I knew he'd fallen for her."

"I hope I get to meet her. She seems like someone I could like." Penelope said.

"She's the best and she loves Lucy."

Garcia put a hand on Stella's arm. "We are going to find her. I have searches running on my computer that will give us something soon."

"I hope you're right." Stella said raising her cup to her lips.

Garcia sighed. She smoothed her hair absently with a hand that wore a ring with a large red stone shaped like an oval.

"My computer's never let me down yet." She told the other woman. "Now… While we're waiting, tell me more about Danny and Lindsay. "

"Well, Lindsay's from Montana. That's how we all knew he had a crush on her. He called her Montana. In the beginning I think it was something to annoy her but then it became a pet name."

"Yeah… I know what -"

Garcia was interrupted by Reid who'd come into the room looking for her. "What did you say?" He demanded of Stella.

"Oh no… I know that look." Garcia said. "You just made the connection." She said, excitement growing in her stomach.

"I don't know anything yet, but I need you to look into thefts of ancient weapons from museums or private collectors."

She didn't bother to ask why, because this was Reid talking. She knew it would come together soon.

He left the room without explaining his outburst to Stella who put her hands on her hips and turned to Garcia. "What was that all about?"

"He gets like that when he's found some crucial piece to the puzzle." Garcia said proudly, the red stars hanging at her ears shook as she unconsciously nodded her head.

"What are we waiting for?" Stella said, leading the other woman from the room.

0000000000

Reid hurried down the hall to the conference room Mac and Hotch were using for their base. "Hotch…" He said out of breath. "We have to call Rossi right now."

"Slow down Reid and tell me what's going on." Hotch ordered.

"I think the cases in Montana and here are connected."


	18. The Unexpected Link

**_Disclaimer: see my profile_**

**_A/n here's the next chapter my lovelies. Once again I have to give my fantastice beta REIDFANATIC mucho kudos. The next twist in this chapter was her idea and a damn good on it was. _**

**_The Unexpected Link _**

Everyone, except Garcia, had congregated into the conference room. Hotch had just finished speaking with Rossi when Stella joined them. "I just spoke with David Rossi in Montana. He's looking into a case of three missing girls from around the Bozeman area. The un-sub is taking them from public places at two-month intervals. The good news for Bozeman is that the pattern hasn't repeated even though we would expect another missing child by now."

"What does this have to do with Lucy?" Stella asked impatiently.

"When I heard you say that Detective Messer calls Detective Monroe, Montana, I began wondering if the cases were connected." Reid said while he began putting pictures up on the white board Adam had pushed into the room.

"I'd like you to see the missing girls from Montana."

He put up the pictures as everyone watched him in silence. No one spoke for a long time as they all stared at the photos. "They all resemble Lucy," Hawkes said.

"It could be a coincidence," Stella said, but there was hope in her voice.

"Yes… It could be a coincidence, but then we talked to Rossi. When un-subs perfect a ritual, they rarely vary from it. It takes something drastic to alter their plans. We would expect a un-sub to de-evolve or begin to lose control. It's unusual for the un-sub to wait longer to kidnap or kill rather than decrease the time between kills." Reid explained.

"I hope there's more to this than just a kidnapper not meeting a time frame." Mac said skeptically.

"There is more," said a very excited voice from the doorway.

Garcia hurried into the room, her pink dress swirling around her tanned legs. "I found the connection. I traced the weapon that killed Lopez to a dealer of antiquities right here in New York. He's also Cuban, but here legally. His name is Guillermo Cortez. He reported a kukri missing in a robbery six months ago. Unfortunately, we don't have the weapon to compare. The good news is that I couldn't find another instance of a kukri being stolen in this part of the country."

"Then we better have a word with this Cortez." Flack said getting up out of his chair.

"Not so fast," she smirked at him. "We don't need to speak to him even if we could. He's dead. He had a heart attack having sex with a prostitute." Garcia informed him.

"That's convenient," Flack dropped back in his chair with a scowl.

"I do have more good news." Garcia took the chair between Hawkes and Reid. "I found a connection between Cortez, Herbert Stanley, Lopez and the case in Montana. At least I think I have."

"What have you found?" Hotch asked.

"I found a known associate of Herbert Stanley. His name is David Cadence."

"Did you say David Cadence?" Mac started up in surprise, fiery red coming into his face.

"What is it?" Hotch asked feeling the tension go up in the room.

"When Lindsay was sixteen, she was the only survivor of a violent crime. A man killed three of her girlfriends and a server at a local diner. Lindsay was the only witness. Four years ago, she went back to Montana to testify against Daniel Cadence. He's serving four life terms as a guest of the State of Montana."

"David is his brother," Garcia continued as though no one had interrupted her. "They grew up in Montana, sons of a rancher. They both began getting into trouble when they were teenagers. When their father died fifteen years ago, he left the ranch to them. It appears that David tried to go straight for a while. He took over the ranch and married Eileen Parry a year later. After his brother went to jail, he went back to his old ways for reasons unknown. He got involved in drug and weapons smuggling. It appears that his wife thought he'd gone out to become a truck driver because he couldn't make the ranch pay off. That's where he could have met up with Lopez and, through him, Stanley. His wife didn't know about his new criminal life until he died two years ago. He left her with a very substantial life insurance policy that paid double indemnity on murder or accidental death. Her daughter died in a drowning accident in the pond on the ranch. Mrs. Cadence ended up in an institution. She was released a year ago."

"You said she had a daughter," Stella said.

"Yes…" Garcia went to the white board and put a picture up.

They all stared in disbelief. "She and Lucy could be twins."

"Are you saying that Lucy is in Montana in the hands of the mentally unstable sister-in-law of Daniel Cadence?" Hawkes asked, dumbfounded.

"We can't jump to conclusions?" Hotch said. "We need to get Rossi and the rest of the team out to that Ranch."

"I'll get them the address." Garcia said.

"We have to tell Danny and Lindsay," Stella said.

"Not yet," Mac said. "We need to wait and see if Lucy is there. I won't get their hopes up for nothing."

000000000000000000000000

Danny sat down on the couch next to Lindsay. She climbed into his lap and hugged him close. "I wish we had something to do rather than just sit here and wait around for news."

He tightened his grip on her so that his scent, sharp and tangy, surrounded her. "I know Linds… I keep thinking about our trip to Amagansett. I want to go back there when we have her back."

"Why?"

He began playing with her wedding band as he spoke. "I want to make some good memories to replace the old ones."

"Alright… I think that's a great idea."

"What have you been doin?"

She didn't answer until her reached around and took his chin in his hand. "Montana?"

"I was in Lucy's room. I changed the sheets again and…" She bit her lip and tears began to run down his cheeks.

"What is it baby?" He kissed her cheek. "Please don't cry."

"I was looking at that quilt mom made for her. Remember that she told us she knew Lucy would be a girl before the ultrasound proved it."

He ran his fingers over her hands and up her arm. "Yeah…"

"She said she had a dream the night I called to tell her I was pregnant. She dreamed of a little girl with dark eyes and blonde hair. She said it was so real that when she woke up she expected the little girl to be right there in the room with her. She said she just knew that her granddaughter would be a girl."

"She was right," he said softly.

"I laughed at her because I'm all about the science. After Lucy was born, I thought about Mac. He said to me one time that God is a scientist."

She felt Danny shake against her back as he laughed. "Yeah… That sounds like something he would say. If God let your ma know ahead of time about Lucy, then I guess he had his reasons. Can I tell you something Lindsay?"

She turned in his arms and gazed up at his sorrowful blue eyes. "You know you can tell me anything baby."

"When you went to Montana before Lucy was born, I was all excited for a son. I thought that because all the women in my family had boys that I'd have one too. I drove everyone nuts with boy's names. Then you called me that day and said we're having a little girl. I was stunned, and I admit, a little disappointed, but then I was so happy because I pictured her just like you and I love you so much. I wouldn't trade her for a dozen boys."

His voice broke on the last word. Lindsay pulled his face down and kissed him delicately on the lips. "I love you too Danny. We have to trust in Mac and the BAU."

The phone rang just as Lindsay was about to kiss him again. She slid off Danny's lap so that he could fish his phone out of his pocket, which he left on despite orders.

"Don't answer that…" She said. "It could be reporters."

He ignored her and answered the phone. "Messer."

"Hello Detective…"

"Casey," Danny growled. "You son of a bitch… Where is my daughter?" He shouted.

"Manners Danny… I'm calling because I want to propose a trade, you for the location of your daughter."

0000000000000000000000

She closed the door to her daughter's room. Her little girl slept peacefully again. It wouldn't be long before Sarah would accept and remember her as her mother. This time it would be different from all the others.

She jerked in surprise when someone knocked on her door. Her heart began to race. Perhaps she should just ignore the door. She tiptoed down the hallway and down the stairs to the kitchen door. There was someone at the door.

Emily found the back door to the ranch house unlocked. She opened it at the same time she heard JJ knock on the front door. She crept in to the sunny kitchen. The yellow curtains on the windows and the white flowers in the vase on the wooden table belied the fact that they had a warrant to question Eileen Cadence and search the home for Lucy Messer.

She found the stairs rather easily as Kevin Lynch had been able to get them the blueprints of the house from Bozeman City. She passed the front of the house and hurried up the stairs on her toes, the top stair creaked and she froze, but no one called out to her.

"Who's there?" Eileen called out. If she dealt with the person, they would go away.

"UPS ma'am… I have a delivery for Seven Arrow Ranch."

She opened the door to see a young woman with blond hair pulled back in a brown cap wearing a UPS uniform. "Here you go ma'am… I just need your signature on this."

"Thanks… I completely forgot that I'd ordered anything."

"That's okay… People tell me that all the time."

Eileen signed the paper. "I'll just bring this in." The blond woman said as she pushed in a dolly with large box.

"Thanks… I'll take it from here." Eileen hoped the young woman didn't see her hands shaking.

0000000000000000000000000000

The hallway at the top of the stairs boasted flowered wallpaper and three doors. Emily tried the first one but found it locked. She was about to move to the next door when the wail of a child cut through the air. The misery in the cry ripped at her heart. She lifted one of her feet and kicked it just below the doorknob not caring about the noise. She had no doubt at that time, who she would find behind the door. The door snapped open easily as it was a flimsy lock.

As the door rebounded from the wall, a familiar little girl with blond hair and dark eyes stood up in the crib and screamed her daddy.

"It's okay Lucy… I'm going to take you home."

000000000000000000000000000

Sarah began screaming in her room as Eileen bent to look at the large box on the dolly. The blond woman moved quickly pulling something out of her belt. It was a gun. "Ma'am, please put your hands where I can see them."

"Who the hell are you?" Eileen demanded.

"Agent Jareau, FBI… Don't move."


	19. Never Again

**_Disclaimer: see my profile_**

**_A/n hello all... Here's the next chapter. Only two more to come. Thank you all for your wonderful support and comments. _**

**_Never Again_**

"Are you high Casey? I'm not interested in anything you have to say."

"If you want your little wifey to have your daughter back, you'll shut up and listen to me."

Danny held out a hand to Lindsay as she hurried over to him. "I'm listenin," He growled. "What the hell do you want?"

"I told you what I want. I want you, and in return, I'll give you back your little ball of sunshine."

Danny motioned for Lindsay to get her cell phone. He watched her dial while he thought as fast as he could.

"Tick-tock Detective… Time's a wasting," Shane said into his ear.

"Alright… Where?" Danny demanded feeling ice creep into his heart. He would sacrifice his life for his Lucy. There was no thinking about it.

Shane gave him an address on Long Island City. "It used to belong to an associate of mine from prison. It's empty now, nice, and private. Meet me there in one hour."

"No way… I need more time." Danny began to say watching Lindsay talking frantically into her phone.

"One hour Messer or you'll never see your little girl again." Shane hissed into his ear. "I don't think I have to tell you to come alone."

The phone clicked off. Now Danny could hear Lindsay talking to Mac. She was crying, tears flooding her face as though she'd stepped out into a heavy rainstorm.

"He's off the call now Mac… Yes, I'll let you talk to him." She passed off the phone and threw herself into his arms.

"Hey Mac… Yeah… He's asking for a trade, me for Lucy. No Mac… I'm not gonna let him take her away from us forever. He wants me to meet him at some place on Long Island City. I'm supposed to go alone Mac so don't try to stop me. What? My God… Are you serious? When? Okay, I'll tell her… Yes, tell them all I said thank you. I'm on my way. No… You did. Okay, we'll go. Alright Mac, thank you."

He slapped the phone shut and gave it back to his wife. He stood there staring at Lindsay unable to form a coherent sentence until she put her hand on his face. "Are you going to tell me what Mac said and why you think you're going to trade yourself for our daughter?

She pulled out of his arms and planted her feet as though she were about to hit him with everything in one punch. His phone rang again, startling them so that he almost dropped his phone.

"Messer," He barked irritably. "Oh yeah… I forgot that didn't I." He rattled off the address and shut his phone.

"Lindsay, please just listen to me." He begged as her eyes shot daggers at him through her tears.

"No," She shouted. "I thought we were past all this macho bullshit Daniel Messer. You are not going to trade yourself for our daughter. We'll find another way together."

Her face was scarlet and verging on purple. Her eyes were huge and her hands had curled into fists. He put up both of his hands. "Lindsay…"

"I said shut up Danny. We're going to plan something else with Mac and the FBI. We'll get someone to go undercover for you or -"

He reached out and dragged her back into his arms. "Listen to me Montana. They found her!"

She went so still that he thought his words turned her into stone. "What did you say?" Her voice shook so hard he thought her teeth might rattle out of her head.

"I said…" Now reaction was setting into his heart and his hands began to shake. He clenched them tighter on her arms. "They found our little girl. Lucy's all right… She's in Montana. Can you believe it?"

She pulled back out of his grasp again. Her lovely dark eyes looked up at him in utter and total shock. "She's in Montana… Are you serious?"

"Mac told me," Danny said inanely as if the fact that their boss said it was so must make it so.

"What did he tell you?" She shook him hard.

"He just said she was in Montana and that we're booked on the first flight out of here to meet up with the rest of the BAU."

"We have to pack." Lindsay hurried into the bedroom.

"I'm going to clue in our guard outside the door. They're supposed to take us to the airport."

0000000000000

Reid had never gotten used to riding in speeding vehicles with blaring lights. At least it wasn't Morgan at the wheel this time. He'd been able to buckle his seat belt and, for once, he didn't have to navigate.

Hotch shut his phone. "I just got the word that the Messers are in the air and on their way to Montana."

Reid, sitting in the back seat and to the right of Mac could see the muscle in his cheek relax. "Thank you Hotch," He said. "I don't know how Garcia got them on that flight, and frankly I don't want to know, but thank you all the same."

"You're right, you don't want to know." Hotch said, but Reid smiled at the pride in his Unit Chief's voice. "You're welcome though, and I'm glad they are out of harms way."

"I'm going to have a conversation with Danny and his eagerness to trade his life for Lucy." Mac said as he took a right hand turn with squealing tires.

"I understand why he would do it." Hotch said quietly as the tall buildings of the city flashed by.

"I understand too," Mac said, "but we're still having a conversation."

Reid watched the two older men smile at each other. At least they'd made new friends. His thoughts turned back to the job at hand. At least this time he had a vest, back up and a gun in this confrontation with a psycho. It would all be all right this time.

0000000000000

They fanned out around the house that fronted the river. They couldn't hide fact that they had come in force so they didn't try. Shane Casey wouldn't get his wish to have Danny so they had to let the SWAT team go in first. Hotch went behind the two SWAT team members while Reid followed Mac and Stella around to the back door with more SWAT agents. The rest of the team had stayed back at the lab waiting for the word that they had taken Shane Casey into custody.

0000000000

The house was nearly brand new; Hotch could see as they hit the front door and entered the living room. It had carpet, but no furniture. He didn't hear anything despite the shouts of FBI and NYPD that were echoing off the white painted walls.

They next encountered an oak staircase leading up to the second story. The top of the stairs revealed more dark blue carpet and white walls. There were five doors leading off the hallways. Hotch separated from the rest of the SWAT, heading down to the end of the hall. He pushed open the door, sweeping the room with his gun.

"Hello Agent Hotchner," Shane said from one corner of the room.

He held a gun in his right hand and pointed it right at Hotch. One of the SWAT agents entered behind him, but Hotch waved him back with his hand. "I'll handle this," he told the burly man next to him.

"Oh you will… I'm surprised that Detective Messer isn't here. I thought I'd made myself clear." Shane said angrily, his eyes flaring with rage. "I hope you didn't give him bad advice."

"Why don't you put down the gun and we'll talk about it." Hotch said.

"I don't think so," Shane held the gun squarely on Hotch despite his vest. "You take me in now and you'll never find little Lucy Messer."

"I'm sorry to burst your bubble Mr. Casey," Hotch said taking two more steps into the room. "We know where she is. We know all about your connection to Daniel and Eileen Cadence. You don't have anything left to bargain with." Hotch informed Casey who narrowed his eyes.

"You're bluffing… I know you're a profiler with the almighty FBI Agent Hotchner, but you won't trick me."

The gun in his hand began to shake as the light from the noonday sun filled the room with its golden brightness.

"I assure you I'm not bluffing," Hotch, said advancing another step into the room.

Shane lowered his gun a bit. "Stay back…" He ordered the agent. "Just because you wear that vest doesn't mean I won't cut one of your legs out from under you."

"You don't have anywhere to go Casey." Hotch said. "Put the gun down and come quietly."

"Tell your friends to leave and maybe I will," Shane said.

Hotch looked over at his SWAT team accompaniment. "Please leave us alone."

"But sir," the large one at his right began to protest.

"Do it," Hotch ordered. "Go find Mac Taylor and let him know that we found Shane Casey."

They left the room grumbling with protest and irritation.

Shane smiled at Hotch. "I know all about you Agent Hotchner. I have my sources too and I know you lost your wife recently."

"This isn't about me," Hotch said through clenched teeth.

"Oh I think it is… You see I know you failed to keep your family safe just as Danny Messer failed to keep his family safe. You are so dedicated to your job; you can't see the threats until they consume you. "

He suddenly dropped his gun with a thud on the floor and put his hands behind his head. "Take me back to jail…" He said with a smile that reminded Hotch of a man he'd once arrested that killed a little girl after raping and beating her within an inch of her life. "I'll find some other way to make Danny Messer pay for what he did to me."

Hotch couldn't make his feet take him forward. Suddenly, he could hear Haley's voice in his head and two gunshots that ended her life. His gut began to stab with pain as though Foyet's knife were slashing into him again. If he looked done he'd see the brilliant scarlet blood he'd lost. He'd hear Foyet's voice taunting him about Haley and Jack.

"Come on Agent Hotchner, I'm unarmed and we're alone. Do what I can see in your eyes you want to do?"

Another memory surfaced, Strauss asking him if he thought that Foyet would be a danger had he not killed him.

_"What do you think would've happened had Foyet got up off the floor Agent Hotchner." _

_"I don't have to guess. He would've tried to kill my son." _

_"That's good enough for me."_

No… He wouldn't let this nightmare happen again to a man just trying to do his job and protect his family. He squeezed the trigger.


	20. Goodbye and Hello

**_Disclaimer: see my profile_**

**_Goodbye and Hello _**

The roar of the gun snapped him from the image of Haley and the echo Strauss that had taken over in his head. He stood staring at Shane Casey's body as other people rushed into the room behind him. He didn't hear Mac Taylor shout to the others to clear the room. He didn't see Reid ignore Mac and stay standing at his side.

"Agent Hotchner…" Mac snapped at him.

Hotch's heart rate, which hadn't jumped when he'd pulled the trigger finally woke up and began to pound like a jackhammer. It was like being back on the SWAT team his first day. He moved his eyes to Mac who pulled on a glove. He watched, without speaking or feeling anything but the beat of his heart, as Mac went to the body and felt for a pulse.

"He's dead."

The words should have shot nerves into Hotch's stomach, but the only thing he could feel was a savage kind of triumph that scared him to the depths of his bones.

Mac picked up Casey's gun and put it in the dead man's hand. He stepped back and addressed Hotch. "I need for you to leave now. We'll take an official statement back at the lab."

Hotch nodded his head and left the room, ignoring Reid who just stood there surveying the scene with wide and accepting brown eyes.

"Go with him." Mac said gently. "I'll handle things here."

0000

The bright light of noon bathed the conference room in yellow light that began getting on Hotch's nerves. It should be dark and dreary outside with rain hitting the windows like sand. Maybe if it were like that outside he would feel better about pulling that trigger.

The door opened and Mac entered with a file and a tape recorder. "I'm getting an official statement so there's no question." He stated in a no nonsense tone. "I would like to know what you were thinking as well."

"Mac I -"

"After I record your statement," Mac raised his voice.

He sat down and turned on the tape recorder. He gave his name and rank and stated this interview was with regard to the shooting of Shane Casey.

"Tell me what happened from the minute you arrived at the house." He asked Hotch.

Hotch went through everything including having to shoot Shane Casey in self-defense when he wouldn't surrender his weapon.

"Why did you ask the SWAT officers to leave the room?"

"I believed the situation was under control. I felt I could talk the subject into surrendering his weapon. I was wrong."

Mac snapped off the recording without asking more questions. "Alright, tell me what really happened."

"I don't think that's a good idea. The less you know, the safer your career will be." Hotch argued.

"I think I've made it clear that I can keep a secret." Mac snapped back.

Hotch sighed… "I realized that if I let him go back to jail that Detective Messer and his family would never be free of him. I know what that's like. I know the hell he and Lindsay have lived in. I couldn't let that happen again."

Mac stared at him for a long time while the muscles bunched in his jaw. "I do understand." He finally said. "David Rossi trusts you and I trust him. Just promise me if you ever come back to my city, you'll try to use your gun only if your life depends on it."

"I promise… Thank you Mac."

"You need to sign this," Mac shoved the file over to Hotch's side of the table. "I imagine you're going to have to face the music at Quantico."

Elle's face rose up in his memory. He realized with a jolt, what she must have been thinking, and feeling when she pulled the trigger. It wasn't all black and white like he'd always thought it should be, and had to be. There were shades of grey in every life; there were no absolutes but death, and love.

He signed the paperwork and pushed it back over to Mac. "I'm sorry I caused you more work and worry."

Mac rubbed the bridge of his nose and sighed. "It was getting kind of boring around here anyway."

Hotch smiled a sad little smile. "I know you don't mean that." He stood up and headed for the door.

"Hey Hotch…"

"Yeah…" He turned back to see a hint of a smile on Mac's face.

"It was good working with you."

"Thanks."

00000

Adam watched Penelope pack up her computer. It had been just over twenty-fours since she'd whirled into his space and changed his life.

She wore a dark purple dress that hit just above her knees with chunky earrings and a necklace that matched the color of her dress. She wore tortoise shell glasses and ruby lipstick that made her mouth so kissable.

"Hey Adam…"

"What?" He jerked his gaze off her mouth hoping that she didn't notice how he'd been staring at her.

"You have your space back." She smiled.

"Yeah," he agreed.

She walked over to him. "You don't look very happy about it."

He swallowed hard as her scent washed over him. "I am, well I guess…." He wiped his hands on his jeans. "I know you have a boyfriend, but you're the most beautiful woman I've ever met," he squeaked. "You're hacking skills are the best I've ever seen. I was hoping that maybe some weekend we could get together you could teach me some of your tricks."

She grinned at him. "Sounds like fun you handsome thing. Here's my card." She wrote her number and email address on the back. "After all what are friends for," she reminded him

He stood staring at the door long after she left the room. "Friends…" He mused. "I guess that will have to do for now."

0000

Reid hurried into the conference room, not noticing Stella there staring out the window at the clouds collecting in the light blue sky.

"Oh… Ah his," He gave her a little wave. "I left a file folder in here." He pointed at the brown folder with its official Dept. of Justice Seal on the front.

He picked it up and turned for the door. "Dr. Reid." Stella called out to him.

"Yes?"

She sighed. "I know I haven't been very welcoming to you."

"It's okay," He assured her tapping the folder in his hand on the palm of the other hand. "We get that a lot."

"That's not an excuse. I wanted to say thank you for all your help. Because of you, we got Lucy back alive. I'll never forget that."

He went pink in the cheeks. "Oh well it was team effort and -"

"Yes," Stella interrupted. "I know you all had your part, but it was you that put the two cases together. So thank you."

Her dark eyes made him cough nervously in his hand. "You're welcome… I'm happy it all worked out."

"So tell me Dr. Reid -"

"You can call me Spencer if you want." He blurted out, and then went scarlet. "You don't have to if you don't want to."

"Spencer… Have you ever been to New York before," She asked as her eyes danced.

"Um… just for work."

"So you've never been here." She teased. "Why don't you stay a few extra days and let me show you around."

"Oh… Um, well I don't know if I can. Hotch might need me back at work."

"You never know until you ask," Stella said.

"Alright, I'll ask him for some time off."

"You won't regret it," Stella assured him. "No one gives a better tour of the city then I do."

0000

An hour later, Stella shut her phone and addressed Sid, Hawkes and Dr. Reid. "That was Lindsay… They just landed in Bozeman. Your team was there to meet them." She said to Reid. "They're on their way to Lindsay's home. It turns out that Seven Arrow Ranch is ten miles from where Lindsay grew up. The Cadence family has owned the ranch for three generations. After David went to prison, the parents left the area. Daniel decided to stay behind. He wanted to clear the family name or at least that's what he wanted everyone to think. In reality getting married and keeping the ranch going was a cover for his activities. He traveled several times a year to Miami, Pennsylvania and New York. That's how he got to know Lopez, Casey and Stanley."

"What about Rossi's case?" Reid asked.

"A search of the property found the three little girls. She buried them in the root cellar under the barn. Apparently, Shane told her that Lucy was her little girl Sarah who died in an accident. She believed the girl to be kidnapped rather than dead, and Casey played into that."

"You have to feel bad for her," Reid said.

The others stared at him. "I mean, she's clearly disturbed, but she loved her child. Anyone that takes advantage of the grief is just as guilty as she is, if not more so."

"That may be true but she still killed three little girls." Stella reminded him.

"At least she'll get help now." Reid said.

The door to the lab break room opened to reveal Mac and Hotch. "Are you ready to go?" Hotch asked the younger man.

"Yeah… Um, Hotch do you mind if I stay here for a few days. Stella said she'd show me around the city."

Hotch's eyebrows went into his head while the others broke out in big grins. Stella glared at all of them in turn as if daring them to say anything.

"I think that's a great idea. I was going to give everyone the next two weeks off. You all deserve it. I make it right with Strauss." Hotch promised the young profiler.

"Thanks Hotch."

Sid handed his card over to Reid. "Call me if you're ever bored when you get back to Quantico and we'll talk about Salem witches and philosophy."

Reid's face lit up. "I'd be happy to."

"Ah man… Do you have to encourage him?" Hawkes whined to Reid.

"Hey Dr Reid," Mac called to the young man as they left the break room.

"Yes sir," He stopped and turned back.

"If you ever want to leave the BAU and work in a crime lab, let me know."

"Um… Okay, I'll keep that in mind." Reid went slightly pink in the cheeks.

"I'm never coming back to New York." Hotch suddenly declared.

Everyone said 'why' at the same time.

"Every time we come here, someone tries to poach one of my team." He complained.

000000

A local FBI agent drove Lindsay and Danny to her old family home. Lindsay stared at the familiar landscape rushing by. The grey sky and clouds met the long stretches of land and the mountains in the distance. She'd missed the wheat fields that grew everywhere. The city was her home, but this would never leave her soul.

"Hey Babe," Danny whispered in her ear. "You've been really quiet since we landed.

She wiped away a lone tear on her cheek. "I was thinking about Daniel Cadence. I thought I was rid of him. It wasn't enough that Casey kidnapped our baby, but he brought the Cadence family into this too. I've never hated someone so much in my life."

"It's okay Montana…."

"No, it's not okay Danny. I just want to forget about Casey and Daniel Cadence with his disturbed sister in law and his criminal brother."

"We ain't never gonna forget them, but we don't havta let them get in the way of bein happy with Lucy."

"When did you get so wise?" Lindsay said, and then kissed his cheek.

"I ain't wise, just lucky that you love me." He said, kissing her mouth.

The SUV pulled up into the driveway at Lindsay's home. The old farmhouse, made from huge logs never looked so inviting to her and scary at the same time.

She grabbed Danny's hand as he was about to open his door. "What is it Montana?"

"I'm afraid…" She said, choking back the tears that had risen in her eyes. "What if she doesn't remember me?"

He smiled, his blue eyes twinkling in a way she hadn't seen in nearly two weeks. "There ain't no way she don't remember you baby. You're her mother."

She couldn't look at him in the eyes as she spoke, "I think a part of me decided that we weren't going to get her back."

He reached under her chin and pulled her face up to look at him. "Its okay baby, I thought that a couple of times, too. It's normal."

"Okay…" She took in a big breath. "Let's go inside and see her.

They left the truck and hurried up the steps to the porch. The door flew open before she could knock. Her mother stood there with tears streaming down her face. "I am so sorry," she swept her daughter into her arms while favoring Danny with a loving look.

"Mom… Why are you sorry?" Lindsay asked squirming under her mother's tight grasp.

"Lucy was ten miles from me for days. What kind of grandmother am I that I don't know it or suspect something was wrong with Eileen? I knew what she'd been through and that Lucy even resembled her Sarah."

"It's not your fault Ma," Danny patted her arm. "How could you have known?"

"I just want to see her." Lindsay said. "Please mom," She begged.

"She's in your room playing with Mr. Giggles. She's had it very rough, but I think she remembered me from my last visit," Debra Monroe said. "You know where to go."

0000

Danny opened the door to Lindsay's old bedroom and stood there staring at his little girl. He and Lindsay didn't say anything until Lucy turned her head. The little girl's eyes went wide. "Dada, Mama!"

She climbed to her feet and hurried to them on unsteady legs as she'd just started walking a month ago. Danny met her and swung her into his arms. Tears held back for days flooded his eyes. "I'm here Bella, Daddy loves you so much." He kissed her face and handed her off to Lindsay who sobbed like her heart had been ripped out of her chest.

"Mama missed you so much baby girl." She covered Lucy's face with kisses. "I love you Lucy."

"I second that," Danny said holding them both closed to his heart. "I'm never letting you go ever again."


	21. Epilogue

**_Disclaimer: see my profile_**

**_a/n hey all... Here's the last chapter. Thank you all for your wonderful support and kind comments. Again, I'm sending out mega thanks and kudos to my most excellent beta REIDFANATIC. She got me through writers block and convinced me not to give up on this when I thought I'd bit off more then I could chew. You are the best my friend! _**

**_Epilogue_**

"I'm glad we decided to come back here." Danny said as he held Lindsay close.

The beach was deserted that fall day. Six months had passed since Lucy had come back to them. They'd finally had the chance to come back to Amagansett and the scene of the crime as it were.

The sun was setting over the ocean in a riot of pink, gold and purple as it met the sapphire sea at the horizon. A cold breeze ruffled Lucy's blond hair as she played with the new sandcastle they'd spent most of the day building with her.

"Do you think she remembers?" Lindsay asked with a shiver.

Danny shivered too, so he tightened his grip on his wife through the dark blue coat she wore. "I hope not. Dr. Winter said that since the nightmares went away a couple of months ago, she should be fine. He said she won't remember it when she's older."

"I know… I just wondered if being back here might bring something back."

Danny shifted, pulling Lindsay between his legs so her back rested on his chest. He kissed her neck and she sighed. "I know I'm probably being paranoid."

"Hey, you're not the one that won't let her out of your sight." He said. "I don't want to make her scared because I'm afraid." He told his wife.

"Look at her, she's fine." Lindsay said. "You haven't made her scared. She's a lot stronger than we are."

He squeezed her tight. "You're right about that. She didn't lose her sweetness." He said, watching Lucy with rapturous eyes. "So you're saying I shouldn't worry." He said.

"Yeah… That's what I'm saying. She's going to be just fine."

"I just thank God I had you through all of this. Remember what I told you the day we got married."

"Yeah… You said I was the one you always wanted." She shifted around so that she could look into his eyes.

"It's more than that… You changed my life. A song Billy Joel sings says 'Did you know that before you came into my life… It's some kind of miracle, I survived.' That's exactly what I think every time I look at you."

Tears welled up in her eyes. "Wow… that's pretty romantic Messer."

He threw back his head and laughed. "Don't let it go to your head Montana."

She punched him hard in the shoulder. "Watch it!"

"Dada…" A little voice said from behind them. They both turned to see their little girl with a small white shell in her tiny hand. She held it out to Danny. "Thank you my sweetheart." He took it from her and showed it to his wife.

"Did you find a shell?" Lindsay cooed. "You are the smartest little girl in the whole world."

She gathered Lucy up in her arms. The little girl turned and smacked a kiss on her mother's cheek. "Mama," She hugged her.

"Oh I love you so much Lucy." Lindsay squeezed her back.

"I love both of you." Danny said.

Lindsay let Lucy back down to play with her sandcastle before it got too dark to see. They watched her play for a while, then gathered up their picnic and hurried back to their little rental cottage.

00000

Danny held Lindsay close in the black of the night that had descended on them. Lucy slept peacefully in her crib in the next room. Everything was right with the world, but he still couldn't sleep.

"What's wrong?" Lindsay mumbled.

"I was thinkin," He said.

"Hm…" She said, rubbing her hands up and down his arms.

"Do you remember the night you came into Lucy's room and found me standin after those months in the wheelchair?"

"Of course," he felt her turn over to face him. "I'll never forget that."

"The day before that, I went to PT and I was ready to give up. Hawkes came in and really ripped me a new one. He said that pain is the price of every precious thing. He made me get up off my butt and work so I could walk again."

"Then I owe Hawkes thanks. He's right though, nothing is more precious than Lucy." Lindsay said.

"You got that right," He bent down and kissed the top of her head. "Just promise me one thing."

"What?"

"Promise me we'll have a little more happiness than pain from now on."

She laughed. "I can't make that promise, but I'll see what I can do."

He held her tight as the silence of the night closed in around them and held them close in the happiness they made for each other. Life was opposites and full of pain but hope held sway over every precious thing.


End file.
